Tagged container tracking

ABSTRACT

A system and method that automatically monitors product use, such as the type and amount of agricultural and/or horticultural product stored in and dispensed from a cartridge over time and/or by geographic location. Monitored data are stored in memory such as a tag on the cartridge and may be transmitted to a server for storage, aggregation, and analysis. The cartridge may be authenticated before being authorized for use for the benefit of a current user in dispensing the product. The cartridge may be refilled after confirmation of authorization codes on the cartridge and refilling equipment tags. The cartridge may be calibrated automatically based on the bulk density or other parameter of the product in the cartridge. Data may be aggregated from a plurality of cartridges automatically. As-applied data from individual cartridges may be used to verify, independent of operator input, treated area coverage and product application rate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/580,601 filed Jan. 20, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 17/316,273 filed May 2021, which is a continuationof U.S. application Ser. No. 16/872,932 filed May 12, 2020, whichapplication is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/981,289filed May 16, 2018, which application claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/508,145 filed on May 18, 2017.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.15/614,547 filed Jun. 5, 2017, which application claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application 62/346,377 filed Jun. 6, 2016.

U.S. application Ser. No. 15/614,547 is a continuation-in-part of U.S.Application. Ser. No. 14/521,908 filed Oct. 23, 2014, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/468,973 filed onAug. 26, 2014 (now abandoned).

U.S. application Ser. No. 14/521,908 filed Oct. 23, 2014 claims benefitof the following U.S. Provisional Applications: No. 61/870,667 filed onJun. 27, 2013; and, No. 61/895,803 filed on Oct. 25, 2013.

U.S. application Ser. No. 15/816,792 filed on Nov. 17, 2017 is acontinuation of U.S. Application. Ser. No. 14/521,908 filed Oct. 23,2014 and claims benefit of the following U.S. Provisional Applications:No. 62/048,628 filed on Sep. 10, 2014; No. 61/895,803 filed on Oct. 25,2013; and No. 61/870,667 filed Aug. 27, 2013.

U.S. application Ser. No. 15/614,547 filed on Jun. 5, 2017 claimsbenefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/508,145 filedMay 18, 2017.

The entire contents of each of the above-mentioned applications areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to monitoring of closed container systems foragricultural products and more particularly to tracking one or more ofproduct quantity, product type, container handling, product dispensingby location, user authentication, and container authentication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Closed delivery container systems utilize containers which can bepre-filled with a wide range of crop input materials such as pesticides(which include, but are not limited to, insecticides, nematicides,fungicides, and herbicides), fertilizers, plant growth regulators,biological agents, and/or other agricultural products. Typically, theproduct contents of closed delivery containers are transferred from thecontainer to a receiving product reservoir via a connecting mechanismwhich operates valves that are located on both the container andreservoir. The container valve and the reservoir valve must be opened inorder for the contents to pass from the container to the reservoir. Bothvalves must be closed prior to removal of the container from theconnecting mechanism in order to: (1) prevent container contents fromleaking from the container; (2) prevent reservoir contents from leakingfrom the reservoir; (3) prevent contamination of the contents whichremain in the container; and (4) prevent contamination of the contentsin the reservoir. Since the passage of contents from the productcontainer to the receiving product reservoir is confined within theconnecting mechanism between the container and reservoir, agriculturalworker protection is enhanced during the content transfer process as aconsequence of reduced dermal and inhalation exposure during thetransfer process.

The previously described process for transferring the contents from aclosed delivery container to a receiving product reservoir can beaccomplished multiple times, without limitation, without adverse effectson the integrity of the contents of the product being transferred.Consequently, this process is ideal for transferring the contents of alarger closed delivery container to a smaller closed delivery containerin a manner that protects the product being transferred fromcontamination or loss of efficacy. The previously described valvemechanism is used for both input and output, meaning that productcontents are introduced into the closed delivery container and dispensedfrom the closed delivery container via the same port or opening, whichis accessed through the valve mechanism. Product transfers betweenclosed delivery containers can be accomplished through an iterativeprocess, where product from a large bulk container is transferred to amini-bulk container, which is then transferred again to a yet smallercontainer that is sized appropriately for manual handling by humanpersonnel. If desired, the same process can be implemented in reverse,meaning that the contents of smaller containers can be transferred tolarger containers, and because the container contents are alwaysprotected from outside contamination as a consequence of the valvemechanism, partially filled closed delivery containers can be topped offor refilled without completely emptying and cleaning the containerbefore refilling it with the same type of product.

Some closed delivery containers are designed for use with productapplication equipment that enables application of product directly fromthe closed container, also referred to herein as a cartridge, to aproduct target without first transferring the container contents to areceiving product reservoir. In such a scenario, without limitation, theproduct target might be: the furrow into which seed is planted for thepurpose of crop production; the seed itself as it is being depositedonto or into the soil; the soil surface in an area that is adjacent toor near the seed furrow; an area of the soil that is below the seedfurrow; any soil surface, without regard to the presence or absence ofplanted seeds; or entire emerged plants or any portion thereof, growingin soil or hydroponically. Patented and patent pending closed deliverysystems used with product application equipment and assigned to AMVACChemical Corporation of Newport Beach, California, include U.S. Pat. No.7,270,065 and U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2017/0000022 by Larry M.Conrad, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,564, U.S. Patent Application Pub. Nos.2018/0014456 and 2018/0092296 by Conrad et al., for example.

SUMMARY

This invention features a method performed by at least one computerprocessor executing computer program instructions stored on at least onenon-transitory computer-readable medium to authenticate and trackproduct use by a user. The method includes entering specific useridentity data, cartridge identity data and product identity data intomemory associated with at least one cartridge. When the cartridge is inproximity to dispensing equipment operated for the benefit of a currentuser, including by or on behalf of a current user, the method includes(i) reading cartridge identity data, specific user identity data andproduct identity data from the cartridge and (ii) reading current useridentity data in proximity to the dispensing equipment. In certainembodiments, it is determined whether the cartridge is authorized foruse by the current user with the product based on the cartridge identitydata, the specific user identity data, the current user identity data,and the product identity data. If the cartridge is determined not to beauthorized for use with the product by the current user, then thecartridge is prohibited from dispensing the product. If the cartridge isdetermined to be authorized for use with the product by the currentuser, then the cartridge is permitted to dispense the product.

In some embodiments, the method further includes detecting a change inuse of the product stored in the cartridge and generating product usedata representing the change in use of the product stored in thecartridge. In one embodiment, the generation of product use data isresponsive to detection of a change in use of the product. In certainembodiments, the product use data in the memory associated with thecartridge is repeatedly updated during repeated intervals to reflect thechange in the use of the product stored in the cartridge during eachinterval. The product use data includes at least one of productquantity, rate of dispensing, time of dispensing, linear length oftreatment by dispensing, location of dispensing, and area of treatmentby dispensing. In some embodiments, the method further includesprocessing the cartridge after dispensing by reading updated product usedata from the memory associated with the cartridge and then addingproduct to the cartridge to refill it based on the updated product usedata. In one embodiment, an invoice is generated for the specific userbased on the product use data.

In certain embodiments, the memory associated with the cartridge is partof an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag. In a number ofembodiments, the current user identity data is read from a useridentification source associated with the dispensing equipment, such asan authorization code to enable dispensing by the dispensing equipment.In some embodiments, each entity that takes possession of the cartridgeis tracked, and the memory associated with the cartridge is updated withentity possession data. In one embodiment, the method further includesdesignating a cartridge as the cartridge to be used by or on behalf ofthe specific user for specific product such as selected agriculturalproduct.

In some embodiments, the method includes repeatedly detecting, at leastduring dispensing of the product, changes in geographic location of thecartridge, and repeatedly entering and updating geographic informationfor a plurality of geographic locations, typically sequential geographiclocations, with as-applied product data at those geographic locationsentered into the memory associated with the cartridge. An as-applied mapis generated in certain embodiments to record as-applied quantities ofproduct dispensed at sequential geographic locations at a target area.In one embodiment, the as-applied map is compared to a prescriptive mapto generate a difference map indicating at least differences greaterthan a selected error amount, such as deviations greater than twopercent or three percent from prescribed values, between prescribedinformation in the prescriptive map and as-applied information in theas-applied map relating to quantities and type of product actuallydispensed at the sequential geographic locations at the target area. Inanother embodiment, the as-applied product data is compared toprescriptive application data to generate an error message fordifferences greater than a selected error amount between prescribedinformation and as-applied information relating to quantities and typeof product actually dispensed at the geographic locations at the targetarea. In certain embodiments, the method further includes furtherincludes (i) entering vendor ID data into the memory associated with thecartridge prior to dispensing of product from the cartridge, (ii)reading the vendor ID data during processing of the cartridge afterdispensing, and (iii) prohibiting adding product to the cartridge untilthe vendor ID data is determined to be authorized for that product inthat cartridge.

This invention also features non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring computer program instructions to authenticate and track productuse by a user, the instructions including one or more of the methodsdescribed herein. This invention may also be expressed as a computerprogram product to authenticate and track agricultural and/orhorticultural product use by a user, the computer program productcomprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readableprogram code configured to accomplish one or more of the methodsdescribed herein.

This invention further features a system and method that automaticallymonitors product use data, such as the type and amount of productsuitable for at least one of agricultural use and horticultural use thatis stored in and dispensed from at least one cartridge over time and/orby geographic location. Monitored data are stored in memory such as atag on the cartridge and, in certain embodiments, are transmitted to aserver and/or an Input/Output device such as a tablet or other mobiledevice, for storage, aggregation, and analysis. The cartridge may beauthenticated before being authorized for use in dispensing the product.The cartridge may be refilled automatically with only the proper typeand amount of product needed to fill the cartridge. To ensure that onlythe proper type of product can be introduced into the cartridge duringthe refilling process, authentication is conducted in certainembodiments for both the cartridge and the container from which therefill contents will be dispensed. The system for dispensing thecontents of the cartridge may be calibrated automatically based on aproduct parameter such as on the weight and/or the bulk density (orliquid viscosity) of the product in the cartridge. Data may beaggregated from a plurality of cartridges automatically.

Other features and advantages of various aspects and embodiments of thepresent invention will become apparent from the following descriptionand from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In what follows, preferred embodiments of the invention are explained inmore detail with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system including a tagged cartridge fordispensing product according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a dataflow diagram of a method for tracking changes in thequantity of the product in the tagged cartridge of FIG. 1 according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a system for tracking changes in the quantity ofthe product in the tagged cartridge of FIG. 1 according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a dataflow diagram of a method for refilling the taggedcartridge of FIG. 1 with a product automatically according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a system for performing the method of FIG. 4according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for determining whether the prescribedamount of product dispensed from the tagged cartridge of FIG. 1 in afield differs from the actual “as-applied” amount of product dispensedfrom the cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a dataflow diagram of a system for performing the method ofFIG. 6 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a dataflow diagram of a method for automatically recalibratinga meter coupled to the tagged cartridge of FIG. 1 according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method for aggregating information from aplurality of cartridges according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic representation of an as-applied map according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of a prescriptive map which can becompared with the as-applied map of FIG. 10 to prepare a difference mapaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention may be accomplished by a system, and a method of usingthe system, having at least one computer processor executing computerprogram instructions stored on at least one non-transitorycomputer-readable medium as a method to authenticate and track productuse by a user. The method executed by the processor includes enteringspecific user identity data, cartridge identity data and productidentity data into memory associated with at least one cartridge. Whenthe cartridge is in proximity to dispensing equipment operated for thebenefit of a current user, including by or on behalf of a current user,the method includes (i) reading cartridge identity data, specific useridentity data and product identity data from the cartridge and (ii)reading current user identity data in proximity to the dispensingequipment, such as reading from a user identification source carried byor otherwise associated with the dispensing equipment. It is determinedwhether the cartridge is authorized for use by the current user with theproduct based on the cartridge identity data, the specific user identitydata, the current user identity data, and the product identity data. Ifthe cartridge is determined not to be authorized for use with theproduct by the current user, then the cartridge is prohibited fromdispensing the product. If the cartridge is determined to be authorizedfor use with the product by the current user, then the cartridge ispermitted to dispense the product. In other words, the current user (oran individual acting on behalf of the authorized current user) becomesan actual user, also referred to herein as an authenticated operator,only after authorization according to the present invention.

When product contents from closed delivery containers are dispensed viaapplication equipment that enables the contents of the container to beapplied directly to the product target (such as onto soil, seeds orplants) without product contents being transferred to a receivingproduct reservoir, the container valve alone opens and closes asrequired to prevent container contents from leaking from the container,and to prevent contamination of the contents which remain in thecontainer. When used in this manner, the application equipment which isapplying the contents of the closed delivery container will be equippedwith a mechanism for operating the valve on the closed deliverycontainer. The application equipment will also be equipped with ametering device or devices to ensure product contents from the closeddelivery container are dispensed in conformity with all applicableregulations, while preventing leaking or application of closed deliverycontainer product contents to areas other than the intended producttarget. Certain agricultural apparatus with meter devices and otherequipment suitable for use according to the present invention aredescribed by Conrad et al. in U.S. Patent Application Pub. No.2015/0059626 A1 and by Wintemute et al. in U.S. Patent Application Pub.No. 2017/0265374 (hereinafter “published parent applications”) whichhave been incorporated herein by reference for priority, including theUS provisional applications to which they claim benefit. The presentinvention can also be combined with equipment disclosed in one or moreof U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,065 and U.S. Patent Application Pub. No.2017/0000022 by Larry M. Conrad, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,564, U.S.Patent Application Pub. Nos. 2018/0014456 and 2018/0092296 by Conrad etal., for example, which are also owned by the present assignee or anaffiliate thereof.

Electronic memory devices (EMD) can be affixed to product containerswhich are used in closed delivery container systems. Product informationcan be recorded on the EMD when product contents are added to thecontainer. The information recorded on the EMD is limited only by thestorage capacity and limitations of the EMD itself, but withoutlimitation, examples of information that can be stored on the EMD,include:

-   -   a unique identification code for an individual (which is a type        of specific user identity data) that is affixed to an individual        container;    -   a product name (which is a type of product identity data);    -   EPA registration information (another type of product identity        data);    -   the site at which the contents were manufactured (another type        of product identity data);    -   the product lot number (still another type of product identity        data);    -   the site at which the container was filled;    -   the date when the product was manufactured (yet another type of        product identity data);    -   the date when the container was filled;    -   the manufacturer's Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) number;    -   an authorization code that enables operation of an        electronically controlled valve system to allow the contents of        a closed delivery container to be transferred to another closed        delivery container or receiving product reservoir (this code        serving as a type of current user identity data); and/or    -   an authorization code that enables operation of an        electronically controlled valve system to allow the contents of        closed delivery container to be transferred directly to        application equipment (this code serving as another type of        current user identity data) that will enable an authenticated        operator to apply the product contents to a product target        without first passing through a receiving product reservoir.

EMDs described in the preceding section can be combined with RadioFrequency Identification (RFID) devices that enable electronicinformation to be recovered from (read) or added to (write) the EMD bymeans of radio waves or frequencies. The use of RFID technology to readfrom and write to an EMD eliminates the requirement for physical/wiredelectrical connections between an EMD on the closed delivery containerand the device that reads and uses information from the EMD, and it alsoeliminates the requirement for physical/wired electrical connectionsbetween the device that sends and Writes information to the EMD. AnRFID-equipped EMD is referred to herein as an RFID tag. In addition toRFID tags, other forms of Automatic Identification and Data Capture(AIDC), such as “smart cards” and other devices which can be updated viamagnetic fields, optical radiation, or other wireless transmissions, arewithin the scope of the present invention.

A metering device used to dispense the contents from or add contents toan RFID-tagged closed delivery container can be paired with equipmentthat monitors, on an almost continuous basis (i.e., multiple times persecond), the quantity of product dispensed from or added to thecontainer, and which may update the RFID tag to reflect the quantitiesof dispensed product. The updated product quantity information may bewritten to, or otherwise recorded on, the container's RFID tag at anyrate (e.g., multiple times per second), which may be the same as, ordifferent from the rate at which the quantity of product dispensed ismonitored. Because the container content information is stored on theRFID tag, it is possible to read the information from the RFID tag atpoints in time that are distant from when the content information wasrecorded, and still ascertain or know the quantity of product in theRFID-tagged container.

Product from RFID-tagged closed delivery containers may be dispensedusing application equipment that utilizes geo-referenced spatialpositioning and/or time information from Global Navigation Systems (GNS)such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite-basedradio-navigation system that enable very precise (accuracy to withinplus or minus 30 centimeters or less) understanding of where product wasapplied. GPS or other positioning data preferably are enhanced by RealTime Kinematic (RTK) positioning techniques to achievesub-centimeter-level location accuracy. GPS information is utilized byitself in some embodiments and, in other embodiments, land-based beaconsor other positioning and/or time-keeping aids are utilized incombination with, or instead of, GNS information.

Information from a closed delivery container's RFID tag may be combinedwith the application equipment's spatial positioning information tocreate and store, on a memory device that is separate and distinct fromthe container's RFID Tag, a geo-referenced record that indicatesprecisely where and/or when product from the container was dispensed andapplied.

An automatically generated electronic record that indicates preciselywhere product from an RFID-tagged container was applied eliminates, forthe user, the requirement to record by hand the application informationassociated with product which was dispensed from the RFID-taggedcontainer, while also eliminating the potential for human errorassociated with hand-written or hand-entered notes or records.

An automatically generated electronic record that indicates preciselywhich product, the quantity of product, and the location at whichproduct was dispensed from an RFID-tagged container ensures that allproduct applied from such containers is recorded in a uniformlyconsistent manner. Because the information that identifies the appliedproduct will come from the coded information on the container's RFIDtag, all product that is applied from containers with that same code maybe recorded using information that is recorded in the same format. Suchuniformity of data makes it easier, faster, and more accurate toaggregate and analyze application data from multiple containers, users,and locations. Accurate and cost-effective analysis of aggregated dataenables better and more precise use-recommendations for futureapplication of the same product.

Because each RFID-tagged container can be assigned a code that enablesidentification of the individual container to which the RFID tag isaffixed, and because the Read/Write capability of the RFID tag enablesaccurate knowledge of the product contents of a partially filledcontainer to be recorded on the RFID tag, suppliers can issue debit andcredit invoices to purchasers and/or other types of users of RFID-taggedcontainers by utilizing equipment that can read the necessaryinformation from the RFID tag affixed to the container. When an RFIDtagged container is associated with an individual at the time ofpurchase, an invoice for the contents of the container may be created byreading and processing the information from the RFID tag affixed to thecontainer. When the user returns the container to the original place ofpurchase, the RFID tag may again be read by the supplier who conductedthe original sale to the user and, from that reading, the net contentsremaining in the container may be determined. At that time, a credit mayautomatically be issued to the user for the unused contents that remainin the RFID-tagged container, so the user incurs a net expense only onthe contents dispensed from the container. In one embodiment, the netcontents data from the RFID tag might be transferred wirelessly by WiFi,cellular service, or other communication system, to the supplier,obviating the requirement for the supplier to take possession of andscan or read the RFID tag in order to issue a credit invoice for productcontents remaining in the cartridge subsequent to use of that containerby the authorized user.

Because each closed delivery container is individually identified via aunique code on the RFID Tag affixed to the container, when that uniquecode is associated with a unique user at the user's time of purchase,multiple RFID-tagged containers from multiple users can, without risk orconcern, be commingled at the original place of purchase before beingprocessed for credit for unused contents remaining in each container. Insome constructions, the unique code of the specific user includesbiometric data such as facial recognition, one or more finger prints oriris scan data. The biometric data can serve as a user identificationsource for authorizing a current user such as an operator of dispensingequipment; in other constructions, an I/O device for inputting apassword, a computer chip on a card or tag on the dispensing equipmentwith identifier information, or other unique identifier can serve as theuser identification source to enable authentication and approval of acurrent user as an approved specific user and/or as an authorizedoperator or handler for the cartridge and product therein.

As described above, when partially filled RFID-tagged closed deliverycontainers are returned to the entity that originally filled thecontainer, or to that entity's refilling agent, the container may beprocessed by topping off or refilling back to the full level withoutcompletely emptying and cleaning the inside of the container prior torefilling it with the same authorized product.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a system 100 is shown according to one embodimentof the present invention. The system 100 includes a cartridge 102 forcontaining and dispensing material, such as agricultural and/orhorticultural products. Although the description herein may refer toagricultural products in connection with the cartridge 102, this ismerely an example and not a limitation of the present invention. Inembodiments of the present invention, the cartridge 102 may storematerial other than agricultural products, such as material for use inconstruction, remediation, and other types of industry. Furthermore, thecartridge 102 may store any of a variety of agricultural products, suchas fertilizers, nutrients, crop protection chemicals, biologicals, andplant growth regulators, whether in liquid, granular, or other form.

The cartridge 102 may take any of a variety of forms. In general, thecartridge 102 may include an exterior housing, which may be sealed orotherwise be impermeable, with the exception of one or more openings forreceiving and/or dispensing agricultural product. The cartridge 102 maybe rigid so as to prevent compression clumping of granular materialsduring storage and/or transportation of the cartridge 102. In anotherembodiment, the cartridge 102 may contain an inner flexible bag insidethe exterior cartridge housing. One purpose of the bag may be to reduceor eliminate the potential for product leakage in the event the exteriorcartridge housing is cracked or broken. Another purpose of the bag mightbe to enable complete removal of the product from the cartridge 102 toenable filling of the rigid cartridge 102 with a different productwithout first having to wash the inside of the rigid cartridge 102. Theflexible inner bag protects the interior of the rigid cartridge 102 fromproduct contamination.

The cartridge 102 may include a product storage unit 104 for storing anagricultural product 106. The product storage unit 104 may, for example,be a discrete container within the cartridge 102 for containing theagricultural product 106 and for preventing the agricultural product 106from contacting other parts of the cartridge 102. The cartridge 102 mayinclude multiple product storage units. Alternatively, the cartridge 102may not include any product storage units, in which case the entireinterior of the cartridge 102 may play the role of the product storageunit 104 in FIG. 1 .

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the product 106 may consume less than all ofthe product storage unit 104 at any particular point in time. Moregenerally, at any particular point in time, the product storage unit 104may: (1) be empty (i.e., not contain any of the product 106); (2)contain some amount of the product 106 that is less than the capacity ofthe product storage unit 104; or (3) be full of the product 106. As willbe described in more detail below, the amount of the product 106 in theproduct storage unit 104 may vary over time. Although the productstorage unit 104 may contain multiple types of products simultaneously,typically the product storage unit 104 will contain only a single typeof product at any particular time.

The cartridge 102 also includes an element referred to herein as a tag108. The tag 108 may, for example, be a Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag, such as a passive or active RFID tag. More generally,however, the tag 108 may be any component or combination of componentswhich perform the functions disclosed herein.

The tag 108 may be contained within, coupled to, or in communicationwith the cartridge 102 in any of a variety of ways. For example, the tag108 may be affixed to an inner or outer surface of the cartridge 102. Asanother example, the tag 108 may be contained within the cartridge 102.The tag 108 may, for example, be part of an assembly (such as a circuitboard) within the cartridge 102. The tag 108 may be physically separatefrom (e.g., not contained within or coupled to) the cartridge 102, butmay be in communication with the cartridge 102, such as via wirelesscommunication.

The tag 108 may include a memory 110 (such as an EMD, as that term isused herein), which may be any kind of volatile or non-volatile memorycapable of storing the data disclosed herein. For example, the memory110 may include product use data such as quantity data 118 which may, asdescribed in more detail below, represent the amount of the product 106currently contained within the cartridge 102. Other data stored in thememory 110 may include one or more of product type data 120 (alsoreferred to as product identity data), cartridge ID 122, as-applied data124, touch history data 126, bulk density data 128, and/or farmer ID130, which is a type of specific user identity data. The farmer ID 130may, for example, be an ID of a farmer who is authorized to use thecartridge 102, such as a farmer who previously filled the cartridge 102.More generally, specific user identity data may, for example, indicatewhich user(s) is/are authorized to use the cartridge 102. Other datathat is stored in some constructions includes the unique identity of theretailer/supplier/vendor from whom the farmer purchased the cartridge,such as represented by retail ID data, also referred to herein as vendorID data.

The tag 108 may include a processor 116, which may be any kind ofelectronic processor. The processor 116 may communicate with the memory110 to write product use data to and/or read product use data from thememory 110.

The tag 108 may include a transmitter module 112 for transmittingsignals, such as by transmitting signals wirelessly. For example, theprocessor 116 may retrieve data (e.g., product use data such as theproduct quantity data 118, the product type data 120, and specific useridentity data such as farmer ID 130) from the memory 110 and cause thetransmitter module 112 to transmit a signal representing the retrieveddata.

Similarly, the tag 108 may include a receiver module 114 for receivingsignals, such as by receiving signals wirelessly. For example, thereceiver module 114 may receive a signal. The processor 116 maydetermine that the receiver module 114 has received the signal and then,in response, cause the memory 110 to store data (e.g., the productquantity data 118, the product type data 120, and the farmer ID 130)representing or otherwise based on the signal.

The tag 108 need not include all of the elements shown in FIG. 1 .Various elements of the tag 108 shown in FIG. 1 may be omitted from thetag 108 and/or be located elsewhere within the cartridge 102. Forexample, the processor 116 may be located elsewhere within the cartridge102, rather than in the tag 108, and perform the functions disclosedherein from within the cartridge 102 rather than from within the tag108. As another example, elements in the tag 108 may be distributed intomultiple elements, some of which may be in the tag 108 and some of whichmay be in the cartridge 102. For example, the processor 116 may bedivided into two processors, one in the tag 108 and one elsewhere in thecartridge 102. The functions disclosed herein as being performed by theprocessor 116 may then instead be performed by the multiple processorsin any of a variety of ways.

As will be described in more detail below, embodiments of the presentinvention may employ one or more cartridges of the kind shown in FIG. 1. Each such cartridge may have some or all of the properties of thecartridge 102 shown in FIG. 1 . Any description herein of the cartridge102, and of systems and methods that include and use the cartridge 102,are equally applicable to any number of cartridges implemented accordingto embodiments of the present invention. Multiple cartridges implementedaccording to embodiments of the present invention need not be identicalto each other. Instead, distinct cartridges implemented according toembodiments of the present invention may differ from each other invarious ways and still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , a dataflow diagram is shown of a method 200for tracking the quantity of the product 106 in the cartridge 102, FIG.1 , over time. The cartridge 102 is filled with the product 106 asrepresented by operation 202, FIG. 2 . Such filling may be performed inany of a variety of ways. As a simple example, the cartridge 102 isshown in FIG. 1 as having a port 152. A product filling module 150,which contains or otherwise has access to the product with which thecartridge 102 is desired to be filled, is coupled to the port 152 via asuitable coupling 154, and the product filling module 150 then providesproduct to the cartridge 102 via the coupling 154, where the product isthen received into the product storage unit 104 as product 106. Theproduct filling module 150 may provide any amount of the product 106 tothe cartridge 102. The product filling module 150 may, for example,provide the product 106 to the cartridge 102 until the product storageunit 104 is full of the product 106, although this is not required.

The system 100 generates product use data to repeatedly update the tag108 in the cartridge 102 based on the filling of the cartridge 102 withthe product 106 (FIG. 2 , operation 204). This product use data updatingmay be performed in any of a variety of ways. For example, the tag 108may be in communication with the product storage unit 104 via aconnection 156, which may be any kind of wired and/or wirelessconnection. The tag 108 may receive information about the filling of theproduct storage unit 104 with the product 106, and the tag processor 116may update the tag memory 110 based on the received information.Examples of information that the processor 116 may store in the memory110 in response to the filling of the product storage unit 104 includeany one or more of the following, in any combination, whether or notspecifically shown in FIG. 1 : the type (e.g., manufacturer and/orproduct name) of the product 106 (in product type data 120), the amountof the product 106 that was contained in the product storage unit 104before the filling process began, the amount of product 106 added to theproduct storage unit 104 during the filling process, the amount ofproduct 106 contained in the product storage unit 104 as the result ofthe filling process, a unique identifier of the tag 108, EPAregistration information for the cartridge 102 and/or product 106, asite at which the product 106 was manufactured, a lot number for theproduct 106, a site at which the cartridge 102 was filled with theproduct 106, a date on which the product 106 was manufactured, a date onwhich the cartridge 102 was filled with the product 106, and amanufacturer's stock keeping unit (SKU) number for the product 106. Anyproduct amounts described above may be stored in the product quantitydata 118.

The tag updating process described above in connection with operation204 of FIG. 2 may be performed any time product is added to the productstorage unit 104. For example, if some amount of product 106 is added tothe product storage unit 104 at a first time and the tag 108 is updatedas described above, and then at a later time product 106 is again addedto the product storage unit 104, the tag updating process may beperformed again in connection with the additional filling of the productstorage unit 104. The resulting data (e.g., product type and/orquantities) may be stored in the memory 110. As will be described inmore detail below, such new data may replace (overwrite), be appendedto, or otherwise combined with existing data in the memory 110. In theevent that a cartridge tag is damaged or destroyed, cartridge datastored in the application equipment memory system may be used to enablecreation of a new/replacement tag without loss of any data from theprevious tag. Prior to refilling, information from the tag of acartridge to be refilled can be stored on a memory device associatedwith the refilling equipment. When the tag information from thecartridge is stored in the memory device that is associated with therefilling equipment, the cartridge tag can be removed and replaced,after which the tag information from the removed tag can be written tothe new/replacement tag, with no loss of information from the tag thatwas removed. The new/replacement tag can then be updated during therefilling process in a manner that is consistent with process describedin the earlier portion of this paragraph that describes the tag updatingprocess. An essential element of the cartridge filling and refillingprocess is the requirement of an authorization code from the cartridgetag and an additional authorization code from the tag on the transfercontainer from which product will be transferred into the cartridge. Ifthe authorization codes from the cartridge to be refilled and thetransfer container from which the refill product will be transferred donot agree or are otherwise determined to be incompatible and/orunauthorized, then product transfer from the transfer container to thecartridge will be disallowed.

A farmer acquires the cartridge 102 (FIG. 2 , operation 206). Althoughreference is made herein to a “farmer,” this term should be understoodto refer to any person or entity who purchases, leases, or otherwisetakes possession and/or control of the cartridge 102, whether or notthat person or entity is a farmer. This entity taking possession can beidentified by entity possession data according to one aspect of thepresent invention. Furthermore, although the acquisition of thecartridge 102 by the farmer is shown in FIG. 2 as occurring after thefilling of the cartridge 102 with the product 106, this is merely anexample and not a limitation of the present invention. Alternatively,for example, the farmer may acquire the cartridge 102 before thecartridge 102 is filled with the product 106, in which case the fillingof operation 202 and/or the updating of operation 204 may occur afterthe farmer has acquired the cartridge 102.

Before describing the remainder of the method 200 of FIG. 2 , considernow the system 300 of FIG. 3 . The system 300 includes a productdispensing assembly 302, which contains a plurality of receptacles 304a-h and a plurality of corresponding meters 306 a-h. Each of thereceptacles 304 a-h is configured to receive a corresponding cartridge,such as the cartridge 102 of FIG. 1 . When a cartridge is inserted intoone of the receptacles 304 a-h, the corresponding one of the meters 306a-h may dispense product from the inserted cartridge via a valve in thecartridge. For example, the port 152 shown in FIG. 1 may include avalve, which may be used both to receive the product 106 for filling thecartridge 102 and for dispensing the product 106 from the cartridge 102via the corresponding meter. As used herein, the term meter isapplicable to devices capable of applying both dry and liquid products.Although system 300 utilizes a single receptacle per row, in otherconstructions two or more receptacles are provided per row such thatmultiple cartridges can be utilized per row to dispense multiple dryand/or liquid products per row. For example, FIG. 7 of Wintemute et al.,published parent application U.S. Patent Application Pub. No.2017/0265374A1, illustrates a planter having 16 sets A, B ofagricultural product containers, shown side by side.

The product dispensing assembly 302 may be attached to an apparatus fordispensing product on a field such as a field for food crops, a plantnursery, a golf course, a sod farm, a turf field, or other type ofagricultural and/or horticultural land use. Although eight receptacles304 a-h and corresponding meters 306 a-h are shown in FIG. 3 forpurposes of example, the product dispensing assembly 302 may contain anynumber of receptacles and meters per planter row unit. Typical plantersinclude 16 or 24 rows for corn, 12 or 16 rows for cotton, and 4 or 6rows for potatoes. Systems according to the present invention canutilize multiple cartridges per row. These are merely examples, however,and do not constitute limitations of embodiments of the presentinvention. Instead, embodiments of the present invention may be used inconnection with product dispensing assemblies having any number ofreceptacles and meters per row and overall for the simultaneousapplication of any combination of multiple dry and/or liquid products.

Returning to FIG. 2 , the farmer may attach the cartridge 102 to theproduct dispensing assembly 302, such as by inserting the cartridge 102into one of the receptacles 304 a-h (FIG. 2 , operation 208). Assume,for purposes of example, that the farmer attaches the cartridge 102 intoreceptacle 304 a, with corresponding meter 306 a. As a result, the meter306 a may dispense product 106 from the cartridge 102 in the field.

The system 300 may include one or more tag readers for reading a tag oneach cartridge when that cartridge is in proximity to product dispensingassembly 302. For ease of illustration, FIG. 3 shows a single tag reader310. In practice, the system 300 may, for example, include one tagreader for each of the receptacles 304 a-h and corresponding insertedcartridges. For example, the receptacle 304 a may include a tag reader,which may be capable of reading data from tag 108 on cartridge 102 oncethe cartridge 102 has been inserted into the receptacle 304 a. The tagreader for each receptacle may, for example, be affixed to, containedwithin, or otherwise located on, in, or near the receptacle. The tagreaders may, for example, be RFID tag readers or otherwise be wirelesstag readers.

The tag reader 310 reads some or all of the data from the tag 108 in thecartridge 102 (FIG. 2 , operation 210). Some or all of the data in thetag 108 may be encrypted, in which case the tag reader 310 may read suchdata from the tag 108 and then decrypt the encrypted data.

The system 300 also includes a data validation module 314. In general,the data validation module 314 receives the tag data 312 that was readby the tag reader 310 and validates the tag data 312 (FIG. 2 , operation212). Such validation may be performed in any of a variety of ways. Ingeneral, the data validation module 314 determines, based on the tagdata 312, whether the cartridge 102 from which the tag data 312 was readshould be permitted to dispense its product 106. The output of the datavalidation module 314 is a data validation signal 316 indicating whetherthe cartridge 102 should be permitted to dispense its product 106.

The data validation module 314 may, for example:

-   -   Determine, based on tag data relating to the product 106 (such        as the product quantity data 118 and/or product type data 120),        whether the product 106 is a valid product. Determine, based on        tag data relating to the product 106 (such as the product        quantity data 118 and/or product type data 120), whether the        cartridge 102 contains a sufficient quantity of the product 106        to be used in the field, such as by determining whether the        quantity of the product 106 in the cartridge 102 falls below        some predetermined threshold amount.    -   Determine, based on the cartridge ID 122, whether the cartridge        102 is a valid cartridge.    -   Determine, based on specific user identity data in the tag data        and on current user identity data read in proximity to the        dispensing equipment, whether the cartridge 102:        -   is authorized for use with that dispensing equipment in            general;        -   is authorized for use by the particular operator of that            dispensing equipment; or        -   is authorized for use with a particular receptacle and/or            dispensing meter in that dispensing equipment.

The system 300 also includes a cartridge authorization module 318, whichreceives the data validation signal 316 and determines, based on thedata validation signal 316, whether to authorize the cartridge 102 fromwhich the tag data 312 was obtained for use (FIG. 2 , operation 214).The cartridge authorization module 318 may, for example, determine thatthe cartridge 102 is authorized for use if the data validation signal316 indicates that the tag data 312 are valid, and determine that thecartridge 102 is not authorized for use if the data validation signal316 indicates that the tag data 312 are not valid.

The cartridge authorization module 318 reviews current user identitydata and produces a cartridge authorization signal 320 as output. Thesystem 300 uses the cartridge authorization signal 320 to determinewhether to enable or disable the cartridge 102 from which the tag data312 was read. The cartridge authorization signal 320 may both specify aparticular cartridge and/or receptacle (e.g., cartridge 102 and/orreceptacle 304 a and/or dispensing meter 306 a such as based on uniqueidentifier codes for those components) and indicate whether to enable ordisable the specified cartridge/receptacle, such as whether thecartridge identity data is approved for the current user identity datafor that receptacle and/or dispensing meter. The system 300 may enableor disable the specified cartridge/receptacle in accordance with thecartridge authorization signal 320. For example, if the cartridgeauthorization signal 320 specifies cartridge 102 and indicates thatcartridge 102 is to be enabled, then the system 300 may enable cartridge102 for use (or not take any action to disable cartridge 102 for use)(FIG. 2 , operation 216). If the cartridge authorization signal 320specifies cartridge 102 and indicates that cartridge 102 is to bedisabled, then the system 300 may disable cartridge 102 for use (FIG. 2, operation 218). If the cartridge 102 is disabled, then the system 300may prevent the corresponding meter 306 a from dispensing any product106 from the cartridge 102. In one embodiment, when a single cartridgeis disabled due to the absence of an authorization signal, allcartridges might be disabled until the disabled cartridge is replacedwith an authorized/enabled cartridge, or until the operator enters anover-ride code that enables the system to apply product from cartridgesin all other receptacles except for the individual receptacle orreceptacles that are disabled due to the absence of an authorizationsignal.

Assuming that the cartridge 102 is enabled, now assume that the productdispensing assembly 302 is put into use to dispense product from thecontainers that are attached to it, such as cartridge 102 in receptacle304 a. As the cartridge 102 dispenses its product (via correspondingmeter 306 a) (FIG. 2 , operation 220), the system 300 uses a productmeasurement module 322 to measure product use data including the amountof product 106 being dispensed from the cartridge 102. The productmeasurement module 322 produces a measurement signal, shown in FIG. 3 asTag Data 324, representing the measured amount of the product 106 beingdispensed from the cartridge 102. The Tag Data 324 in this constructionis transmitted to a measurement output module 326; in otherconstructions, the Tag Data 324 is transmitted to a remote Server 332and/or an Input/Output (“I/O”) Device 336. The measurement output module326 receives the measurement signal 330 as input in this constructionand provides a tag writing signal 328 to the tag 108, thereby causingthe tag 108 to repeatedly update the product quantity data 118 on thetag 108 to reflect the amount of product 106 dispensed and/or theremaining amount of product 106 in the product storage unit 104 (FIG. 2, operation 222). The system 300 may measure the amount of product 106being dispensed from the cartridge 102 in any of a variety of ways. Forexample, if the meters 306 a-h are auger meters, the system 300 maycalculate the quantity of product dispensed by the meter 306 a as afunction of the number of times the auger rotates and/or the number oftimes and the duration of time at which the meter 306 a is operated. Insome constructions, system 300 counts the revolutions, strokes,openings, impulses, flow rate, and/or cycle-time of a dispensing meterand calculates the quantity of product dispensed from the cartridge witheach measured cycle or operational unit. The system 300 may update theproduct quantity data 118 in the tag with any regular or irregularfrequency, such as ten times per second, five times per second,two-to-four times per second, three times per second, once per second,once per ten seconds, or once per minute. In certain constructions, aback-up record of product use data is stored with the dispensingequipment, such as on storage media associated with the dispensingmeter, an EMD associated with the application equipment control system,or a remote server.

The system 300 may update various “as-applied” data 124 in the tag 108in addition to the product quantity data 118 as the product 106 is beingdispensed from the cartridge 102 (FIG. 2 , operation 224). Theas-applied data 124 may, for example, include any one or more of thefollowing, in any combination:

-   -   an identifier of the product 106 being dispensed by the        cartridge 102;    -   the rate at which the product 106 is being dispensed by the        cartridge 102;    -   the current location of the cartridge 102; and    -   the current time.

Any of the data disclosed herein, such as the as-applied data 124, mayinclude one or more timestamps indicating one or more times associatedwith the data, such as a time at which the data was captured, created,or transmitted. Similarly, any of the data disclosed herein, such as theas-applied data 124, may include geographic information, such asgeographic coordinates indicating a location associated with the data,such as a location at which the data was captured, created, ortransmitted. Any such geographic information may, for example, beobtained automatically, such as by using GPS technology. The system 300may, for example, include a GPS module (not shown herein), such asgeoreferencing module 12, FIG. 1 of Wintemute et al. in published parentapplication U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2017/0265374A1, forexample, which generates output representing a current location of thesystem 300. Time may also be provided remotely such as via the GPSsignal or through a separate clock or other time-keeping device. Thesystem 300 may use the output of such a GPS module to generate and storeany of the location data disclosed herein. Embodiments of the presentinvention may correlate various data with each other using any of thetimestamps and/or geographic information disclosed herein. For example,any two units of data having the same or similar timestamp may becorrelated with each other. Similarly, any two units of data having thesame or similar geographic location may be correlated with each other.

When new data are stored in the tag 108, such new data may overwritedata previously stored in the tag 108. For example, when the new currentamount of the product 106 contained in the cartridge 102 is stored inthe product quantity data 118 in the tag, this new current amount mayoverwrite the previous current amount of the product 106 in the productquantity data 118. As described below, however, the previous productquantity data 118 may not be lost to the system 300 as a whole, becausethe product quantity data 118 (and other data contained in the tag 108)may be transmitted to a server 332 and stored remotely.

As described above, the measurement output module 326 may update the tag108 on the cartridge 102 with information about the remaining amount ofthe product 106 in the cartridge 102 and with new as-applied data. Themeasurement output module 326 may update the tag 108 by, for example,using a local communication technology, such as transmitting the signal328 via BlueTooth, WiFi, MiWi, or a local wired connection. In addition,the measurement output module 326 may transmit a remote measurementsignal 330 to a server 332 (FIG. 2 , operation 226). The remotemeasurement signal 330 may be transmitted using a network communicationprotocol, such as TCP/IP, over a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as theInternet, via a wired and/or wireless signal.

The term “server” is used in a broad sense of the term to includecomputer programs and/or devices that provide functionality for otherprograms or devices which may be referred to as “clients”. The server332 may be any kind of computing device, whether or not the server 332communicates using a client-server protocol. The server 332 may receivethe remote measurement signal 330 and store the data represented by theremote measurement signal 330 as measurement data 334. For example, ifthe remote measurement signal 330 contains data representing anidentifier of the cartridge 102, an identifier of the product 106, atimestamp, a geographic location, and an amount of the product 106 thatwas dispensed by the cartridge 102 at the time indicated by thetimestamp at the geographic location, the server 332 may store all suchdata as the measurement data 334 in a memory storage device, which isalso represented by reference numeral 334 in FIG. 3 . The system 300 maytransmit remote measurement signals 330 repeatedly over time as thecartridge 102 (and other cartridges in the product dispensing assembly302) dispenses its product 106 over time, in response to which theserver 332 may store in memory some or all of the data represented bythose measurement signals 330 as measurement data 334, and/orcommunicate the measurement data 334 to an Input/Output (I/O) device 336such as a tablet or other mobile computing device. As a result, themeasurement data 334 may be stored and/or transmitted as a record ofproducts dispensed over time by the cartridge 102 (and othercartridges).

One reason to transmit and store the as-applied data over time is toenable the server 332 to create an “as-applied map” of the product 106as it is actually applied to the field over time. The system 300 may,for example, apply the product 106 based on pre-selected datarepresented by a prescriptive map, which indicates the amount of theproduct 106 that is intended to be applied at each of a variety oflocations in the field. An as-applied map 1000, FIG. 10 , and aprescriptive map 1100, FIG. 11 , are described below. The system 300 maythen vary the rate at which the product 106 is applied at differentlocations in the field, in an attempt to apply, at each such location,the amount of the product 106 that the prescriptive map specifies shouldbe applied at that location. The actual amount of the product 106 thatthe system 300 applies at any particular location in the field may,however, deviate from the amount that the prescriptive map indicatesshould be applied. The system 300 may use the measurements of the actualamounts of the product 106 that were applied at various locations in thefield to create an as-applied map for the product 106. The system 300may then compare the prescriptive map to the as-applied map to identifyany variations between the amount of the product 106 that was prescribedto be applied at each of a plurality of locations and the amount of theproduct 106 that was actually applied at each of those locations.

One advantage of the techniques disclosed above for tracking changes inuse of product stored in each cartridge, such as changes in the quantityof the product 106 over time, is that these techniques may be performedin real-time, i.e., while quantities of the product 106 are being addedto and/or dispensed from the cartridge 102. The term “real-time,” asused herein in connection with tracking changing quantities of theproduct 106, refers to tracking such changes and repeatedly updating thetag 108 accordingly, at repeated intervals without a substantial delaybetween the change in the quantity or other use parameter of the product106 and the resulting update(s) to the corresponding product use data inthe tag 108 (e.g., the product quantity data 118 and/or the product typedata 120). For example, the system 100 may update the tag 108 to reflecta change (i.e., increase or decrease) in the quantity of the product 106in the cartridge 102 (e.g., by storing the increase/decrease and/or theresulting amount of the product 106 in the product quantity data 118) atrepeated intervals within no more than 1 millisecond, 10 milliseconds,100 milliseconds, 300 milliseconds, 500 milliseconds, 1 second, 5seconds, 10 seconds, or less than or equal to 1 minute of such a changein quantity occurring or being detected. As another example, the system100 may update the tag 108 to reflect a change in the geographiclocation of the cartridge 102 (e.g., by storing data identifyingsuccessive geolocations in the as-applied data 124) within no more than1 millisecond, 10 milliseconds, 100 milliseconds, 1 second, 5 seconds,10 seconds, or 1 minute or less of such a change in type occurring orbeing detected. All of these examples constitute “real-time” tracking ofthe product quantity/location, as that term is used herein, at repeatedintervals. In certain constructions, the repeated intervals of updatingbegin with a change in circumstances for the cartridge, such as when thecartridge is connected to another device such as a product filling orrefilling device, or when the cartridge is connected to dispensingequipment. In some constructions, signals representative of real-timetracking, such as error messages for incorrect dispensing orlow-quantity warnings, are provided to the farmer or other user via atablet or other I/O device such as I/O Device 336, FIG. 3 .

Another advantage of the techniques disclosed above for tracking changesin the quantity of the product 106 over time is that these techniquesmay be performed automatically, i.e., without human intervention. Forexample, existing systems typically require the human operator of atractor or planter to manually record the amount of product that hasbeen applied to a field. This manual process has a variety of drawbacks.For example, manual recording of product application is prone to errorfor a variety of reasons, such as the difficulty of manually measuringthe amount of product that has been dispensed and limitations in theoperator's memory. As another example, manual recording of productapplication is prone to intentional fraud. As yet another example,manual recording can require a significant amount of effort, which mayresult in delays in the recording process. Embodiments of the presentinvention address all of these problems. For example, embodiments of thepresent invention may track changes in the product 106 in the cartridge102 (such as changes in the type of the product 106, increases in thequantity of the product 106, and decreases in the quantity of theproduct 106) automatically, i.e., without requiring manual human input.Such automatic tracking may be performed, for example, in the method 200of FIG. 2 in operation 202 (filling the cartridge 102), operation 222(updating the tag 108 as the product 106 is being dispensed), andoperation 224 (updating the as-applied data 124). This automatictracking eliminates the need for the human operator to perform trackingmanually and thereby avoids all of the problems of manual trackingdescribed above. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention mayeven prohibit the human operator from manually recording or modifyingautomatically-recorded information (such as the product quantity data118, product type data 120, cartridge ID 122, and as-applied data 124),thereby both eliminating the risk of inadvertent human error and therisk of intentional fraud.

Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may track and recordproduct-related data both automatically and in real-time. Thiscombination of features enables changes in the type and quantity of theproduct 106 to be tracked more quickly, easily, and reliably thanexisting systems which rely on manual human input. For example, byautomatically monitoring the rates at which the product 106 is appliedin various locations over time, by tying such information to the ID 122of the cartridge 102 that dispensed the product 106, and by transmittingall such data to the server 332 for storage in the measurement data 334,embodiments of the present invention may create an as-applied map of theproduct 106 as actually applied to the field, all without theinvolvement of the operator or farmer. Such capabilities provide realinventory management benefits to the manufacturers of the product 106and to the supply chain between the manufacturer and the end user of thecartridge 102. Furthermore, these features eliminate the burden ofhaving to store the as-applied data locally (e.g., in a flash drive orother physical medium) and then to physically transport it to acomputer, by enabling the as-applied data to be transmitted wirelessly,automatically, and in real-time to the server 332.

The ability to generate an as-applied map automatically enables theagricultural products that were applied to specific crops to be trackedwithout being dependent on manual reporting from farmers for veracity oraccuracy. This ability to track which products were applied toindividual crops, independently of farmer reporting, is particularlyuseful for satisfying demands from consumers to know which products wereapplied to the foods they purchase and for satisfying the need ofregulatory agencies and food processors to obtain access tofield-specific agricultural product use.

As described above, quantities of the product 106 may be dispensed fromthe cartridge 102 over time, thereby resulting in decreases in theamount of the product 106 in the cartridge 102 over time. Embodiments ofthe present invention may be used to add more of product 106 to thecartridge 102, which may include adding more of the same type of productthat was previously contained in the cartridge 102, or adding adifferent type of authorized product to the cartridge 102 than waspreviously contained in the cartridge 102. Any such process of addingany amount of the authorized product 106 to the cartridge 102 isreferred to herein as “refilling” the cartridge 102, whether or not suchrefilling results in the cartridge 102 (or the product storage unit 104)being full of the product 106.

Referring now to FIG. 4 , a dataflow diagram is shown of a processingmethod 400 for refilling the cartridge 102 with the product 106.Although the method 400 of FIG. 4 is described herein as being appliedto the cartridge 102, the method 400 may be applied to any number ofcartridges, e.g., sequentially (serially) or in parallel. For example,the method 400 may be applied to some or all of the cartridges insertedinto the receptacles 304 a-h in the system 300 of FIG. 3 .

The cartridge refilling method 400 includes the cartridge 102 beingfilled with the product 106 (FIG. 4 , operation 402), the cartridge tag108 being updated with product information (FIG. 4 operation 404), thefarmer acquiring the cartridge 102 (FIG. 4 , operation 406), the farmerattaching the cartridge 102 to the product dispensing assembly 302 (FIG.4 , operation 408), the tag reader 310 reading some or all of the datafrom the tag 108 in the cartridge 102 (FIG. 4 , operation 410), and thedata validation module 314 receiving the tag data 312 that was read bythe tag reader 310 and validating the tag data 312 (FIG. 4 , operation412). Operations 402-412 in the method 400 of FIG. 4 may be performed inthe same or similar way as operations 202-212 in the method 200 of FIG.2 , and therefore are not described in detail herein. However, aspreviously described above, if the authorization codes from thecartridge to be refilled and the transfer container from which therefill product will be transferred do not agree, then product transferfrom the transfer container to the cartridge will be disallowed.

The farmer completes activities using the cartridge 102 (FIG. 4 ,operation 414). The farmer may complete the application activities inany of a variety of ways and for any of a variety of reasons, all ofwhich fall within the scope of the present invention. In other words,embodiments of the present invention are not limited to use inconnection with planting equipment. Application apparatus may beequipped with various types of implements that are used to applyagricultural and/or horticultural inputs in conformity with thedirections for use of the applied input, at any point preceding, during,or after the growing cycle for the plants associated with the appliedproduct. Without limitation, RFID-tagged cartridges or productcontainers can be utilized according to the present invention byaircraft, drones, and golf course or turf application equipment. Thefarmer may, for example, complete applying the product 106 to the field,such as by applying all of the product 106 that is specified by aprescriptive map. In such a case, the cartridge 102 may or may not stillcontain some amount of the product 106. As another example, thecartridge 102 may completely deplete its store of the product 106, andthe farmer may complete application activities in response to suchdepletion of the product 106. As yet another example, the amount of theproduct 106 in the cartridge 102 may fall below some threshold amount,in response to which the farmer may complete the application activities.The determination that the amount of the product 106 in the cartridge102 has fallen below the minimum threshold amount may, for example, bedetermined manually by the farmer or automatically by an embodiment ofthe present invention, which may notify the farmer of such adetermination and/or automatically prevent the product 106 fromcontinuing to be dispensed from the cartridge 102 in response todetermining that the amount of the product 106 in the cartridge 102 hasfallen below the minimum threshold amount.

Regardless of how or why the farmer completes application activities,the farmer removes the cartridge 102 from the product dispensingassembly 302 (FIG. 4 , operation 416) and provides the cartridge 102 toa retailer or other party capable of refilling the cartridge 102 (FIG. 4, operation 418). Note that it may not be necessary for the farmer toprovide the cartridge 102 to another party in order to refill thecartridge 102. In certain embodiments of the present invention, forexample, the farmer may refill the cartridge 102 himself. Operation 418,therefore, may be omitted from the method 400 in certain embodiments ofthe present invention. Therefore, references herein to “the retailer” inconnection with the method 400 of FIG. 4 should be understood to referto any party (including the farmer) who is capable of refilling thecartridge 102.

The retailer determines, using information on the tag 108 of thecartridge 102, any one or more of the following, in any combination(FIG. 4 , operation 420):

-   -   the unique identity of the cartridge 102, such as by reading the        cartridge ID 122;    -   the type of the product 106 that is or was contained in the        cartridge 102 while the cartridge 102 was in use by the farmer,        such as by reading the product type data 120;    -   the amount of the product 106 that was contained in the        cartridge 102 at the time the cartridge 102 was acquired by the        farmer or last filled by the farmer, such as by reading the        product quantity data 118; the amount of the product 106 that        was dispensed from the cartridge 102 by the farmer since the        cartridge 102 was acquired by the farmer or last filled by the        farmer, such as by reading the product quantity data 118;    -   the amount of the product 106 that currently is contained in the        cartridge 102 (i.e., at the time of return of the cartridge 102        by the farmer), such as by reading the product quantity data        118;    -   the unique identity of the farmer who owns or is a lessee of the        cartridge, such as by reading farmer ID 130; and    -   the unique identity of the retailer/supplier from whom the        farmer purchased the cartridge, such as by reading retail ID        data.

Operation 420 may include authenticating the cartridge 102, in the sameor similar manner as authentication operation 212 in FIG. 2 , so thatonly an authorized cartridge can be refilled. The present inventionenables retailers to ensure that cartridges and remaining producttherein are returned to the original site of purchase or otherauthorized vendor location. This facilitates automatic issuance of acredit invoice when a partially-filled cartridge is returned by thefarmer or other authorized user.

Referring to FIG. 5 , a system 500 is shown which includes a tag reader504, which may read automatically any of the data described above.Cartridge 102 of FIG. 1 is also illustrated in FIG. 5 with ProductStorage Unit 104, Product 106 and Tag 108; in other constructions, othertypes of cartridges, tags and other components may be utilized accordingto the present invention. In some constructions, the tag reader 504 isan RFID tag reader which may read data from the tag 108 wirelessly. Moregenerally, the tag reader 504 may use any appropriate techniques to readdata from the tag 108 wirelessly and/or via wires. The tag reader 504may be a component of a computing device 502 referred to herein as acartridge interface device. The cartridge interface device 502 maycontrol the tag reader 504 to read the data from the tag 108. Althoughthe description above only refers to certain data being read from thetag 108, more generally the tag reader 504 may read any data from thetag 108.

The retailer invoices the farmer 518 for the amount of product 106 usedby the farmer 518 from the cartridge 102 (FIG. 4 , operation 422). Thisinvoicing process may be performed in any of a variety of ways. Forexample, the cartridge interface device 502 may include a product usedetermination module 508. In general, the product use determinationmodule 508 may determine the amount of product 106 that was used by thefarmer 518 (e.g., the amount of product 106 that was dispensed from thecartridge 102 and/or the total area or rows in fields treated with theproduct) since the cartridge 102 was acquired by the farmer 518, sincethe cartridge 102 was last filled, or since the farmer 518 was lastinvoiced for use of the product 106 and/or cartridge 102. The presentinvention facilitates charging farmers and other authorized users forthe value of plant protection and/or growth enhancement and/or productperformance rather than charging only for total quantity of productdispensed regardless of effectiveness, which is particularly relevantwhen product dispensing is synchronized with seed delivery or plantplacement by precision application equipment. The product usedetermination module 508 may produce an output signal representing thisamount of the product 106 used, with as-applied data in someconstructions and, in other constructions, without as-applied data.

The product use determination module 508 may produce the product useamount signal 510 in any of a variety of ways. For example, the tagreader 504 may produce, based on the data read by the tag reader 504from the tag 108, a read data signal 506 representing some or all of thedata read by the tag reader 504 from the tag 108. The read data signal506 may, for example, represent all data read by the tag reader 504 fromthe tag 108. If the read data 506 already includes data representing anamount of the product 106 used by the farmer 518, then the product usedetermination module 508 may identify this amount in the read datasignal 506 and output that amount in the product use amount signal 510.As another example, if the read data signal 506 includes datarepresenting a previous amount of the product 106 in the cartridge 102(e.g., the amount of the product 106 that was contained in the cartridge102 when the farmer 518 previously obtained or filled the cartridge 102with the product 106) and data representing the current amount of theproduct 1006 in the cartridge 102, then the product use determinationmodule 508 may calculate the difference between these two amounts andoutput the resulting difference (e.g., current amount minus previousamount) in the product use amount signal 510.

The product use determination module 508 may calculate an invoice amountbased on the identified amount of the product 106 used, in any of avariety of ways, and output an invoice amount signal 512 representingthe calculated invoice amount. For example, the product usedetermination module 508 may identify a unit price of the product 106(e.g., price per unit of volume, mass, length of rows treated, and/orareas of fields treated) and multiply the unit price by the amount(e.g., volume, mass, length or area) of product 106 used (represented bythe product use amount signal 510) to produce a product representing theinvoice amount, which the product use determination module 508 mayinclude in the invoice amount signal 512.

The product use determination module 508 may identify the unit price ofthe product 106 in any of a variety of ways. For example, the productuse determination module 508 may identify the type of the product 106,such as by identifying the type of the product 106 based on the producttype data 120, as read by the tag reader 504 from the tag 108 andincluded in the read data 506. The product use determination module 508may identify the unit price of the product 106 based on the type of theproduct 106, such as using the product type to look up a correspondingunit price in a mapping (e.g., database table) of product types to unitprices.

As another example, the invoice amount signal 512 may represent a refundamount due to the farmer 518, rather than an amount owed by the farmer518. The product use determination module 508 may calculate such arefund amount due in any of a variety of ways. For example, the productuse determination module 508 may identify an amount previously paid bythe farmer 518 for the product 106 in the cartridge 102, such as theamount paid by the farmer 518 for the product 106 upon previous receipt(e.g., initial purchase) of the cartridge 102 by the farmer 518 or uponprevious filling of the cartridge 102 with the product 106. The productuse determination module 508 may identify an amount of the product 106used by the farmer 518 from the cartridge 102 since the time associatedwith the previous payment by the farmer 518, using any of the techniquesdisclosed herein. The product use determination module 508 may identifya price of the used amount of the product 106, using any of thetechniques disclosed herein. The product use determination module 508may identify a difference between the previous payment by the farmer 518and the price of the used amount of the product 106, such as bysubtracting the price of the used amount of the product 106 from theprevious payment by the farmer 518. The product use determination module508 may identify this difference as the refund amount due to the farmer518, and may include data representing this refund amount due in theinvoice amount 512.

An invoice generation module 514 generates an invoice 516 based on theinvoice amount 512. The invoice 516 may include data representing theinvoice amount 512, which may be positive (in the case of an amount owedby the farmer 518) or negative (in the case of an amount (refund) owedto the farmer 518). The system 500 may deliver the invoice 516 to thefarmer 518 in any manner, such as by transmitting the invoice 516 inelectronic form, on paper, or both. The process of providing the invoice516 to the farmer 518 may include automatically or semi-automatically(e.g., upon approval by the farmer 518) obtaining payment from thefarmer 518 for the amount due or providing a refund to the farmer 518for the amount owed to the farmer 518.

The system 500 may include a product filling module 550, which may bethe same as or similar to the product filling module 150 of FIG. 1 . Theproduct filling module 550 (which in some constructions is part of thecartridge interface device 502) may fill the cartridge 102 with theproduct 106, such as by using any of the techniques disclosed above inconnection with the filling of the cartridge 102 in FIG. 1 (FIG. 4 ,operation 424). The product filling module 550 may receive some or allof the read data 506 and/or product use amount signal 510 as inputs, andmay identify an amount of the product 106 with which to fill thecartridge 102, and then fill the cartridge 102 with the identifiedamount of the product 106. The product filling module 550 may identifythe amount of the product 106 with which to fill the cartridge 102 inany of a variety of ways. For example, the product filling module 550may fill the cartridge 102 with the amount of the product 106 that waspreviously used by the farmer 518, as represented by the product useamount signal 510. As another example, the product filling module 550may identify, based on the read data 506, the maximum amount of theproduct 106 that can be added to the product storage unit 104 in orderto make the product storage unit 104 full of the product 106, and thenfill the product storage unit 104 with that amount of the product 106.As yet another example, the product filling module 550 may fill thecartridge 102 with the amount of the product 106 that the farmer 518 haspaid for. For example, the farmer 518 may pay the invoice 516 and, inresponse to this payment, the product filling module 550 may identifythe amount of the product 106 for which the farmer 518 has paid, andthen fill the cartridge 102 with the identified amount of the product106. Note that the product storage unit 104 may or may not be full ofthe product 106 after the product filling module 550 has filled theproduct storage unit 104. The product storage unit 104 may, in otherwords, contain some empty space after the product filling module 550 hasfilled the product storage unit 104.

Before filling the cartridge 102, the method 400, FIG. 4 , may determinewhether an attempt is being made to fill the cartridge 102 with adifferent product than the product 106 that was previously contained orstill is contained in the cartridge 102. If the method 400 confirms thatan attempt is being made to fill the cartridge 102 with the same productas was previously contained in, or still is contained in, the cartridge102, then the method 400 permits the cartridge 102 to be refilled withthe product 106. If the method 400 determines that an attempt is beingmade to fill the cartridge 102 with a different product than the product106 that was previously contained or still is contained in the cartridge102, then the method 400 prohibits the cartridge 102 from being filled,such as by preventing a valve in the port 152 from opening. If thecartridge 102 is to be refilled with a different product, then themethod 400 requires that the tag 108 be removed from the cartridge 102,that the cartridge 102 be washed (e.g., triple-rinsed), and that a newtag be affixed to the cartridge 102 before the cartridge 102 isrefilled. In general, the method 400 confirms that the type of productto be added to the cartridge 102 matches the type specified by theproduct type data 120 on the tag 108 before permitting the product to beadded to the cartridge 102.

The system 500 also includes a tag writer 520, which updates data storedon the tag 108 to reflect, for example, any one or more of thefollowing, in any combination (FIG. 4 , operation 426):

-   -   the type of product 106 contained in the cartridge 102 after the        cartridge 102 has been filled by the product filling module 550;    -   the amount of the product 106 contained in the cartridge 102        after the cartridge 102 has been filled by the product filling        module 550;    -   the date and/or time at which the product filling module 550        filled the cartridge 102 with the product 106;    -   the manufacturing lot number for the product 106 with which the        cartridge 102 is filled;    -   for dry products, the bulk density of the product 106 with which        the cartridge 102 is filled;    -   for liquid products, the liquid viscosity of the product 106        with which the cartridge 102 is filled;    -   the location at which the cartridge 102 was filled with the        product 106 by the product filling module 550 (e.g., the        location of the cartridge interface device 502);    -   the identity of the retailer who refilled the cartridge 102        using the product filling module 550;    -   the price that the retailer should charge the farmer 518 for the        contents of the cartridge 102;    -   the price paid by the farmer 518 for the amount of the product        106 added to the cartridge 102 by the product filling module        550;    -   the identity of the farmer 518; and    -   the identity of the retailer that sold the cartridge and/or        product therein to the farmer.

The cartridge 102 is then available for use (possibly re-use) by thefarmer 518 or another farmer (FIG. 4 , operation 428). The farmer 518may, for example, take the cartridge 102 and reinsert it into one of thereceptacles 304 a-h in the product dispensing assembly 302 of FIG. 3 andthen use the cartridge 102 again to dispense the product 106 in themanner disclosed above in connection with FIGS. 1-3 .

The method 400 of FIG. 4 and system 500 of FIG. 5 have a variety ofbenefits. For example, the method 400 and system 500 may automaticallycalculate the amount of the product 106 that was used by the farmer 518from the cartridge 102 and/or the amount of the product 106 remaining inthe cartridge 102. The ability to calculate such amounts automatically,based on data stored in and read from the tag 108 automatically (e.g.,without manual input from the retailer or farmer 518), both increasesthe speed at which such calculations may be performed and reduces oreliminates the human error (both intentional and unintentional) that canresult from performing such calculations manually. The method 400 andsystem 500 may perform such calculations automatically to reflect thetype of the product 106 and its associated unit price. In fact, inexisting systems, no attempt typically is made to make such calculationsat all. Instead, returned cartridges are simply emptied, cleaned, andcompletely refilled, and the farmer is charged for the price of a fullcartridge.

One benefit of calculating the amount of the product 106 that wasactually used by the farmer 518 is that the farmer 518 may be chargedonly for the amount of the product 106 that the farmer 518 actuallyused. In order to comply with custody exchange laws, this may be done,for example, by weighing the cartridge 102, instead of or in addition tousing data from the cartridge tag 108. Regardless of how the amount ofproduct actually used is calculated, charging the farmer 518 only forthe amount of the product 106 that the farmer 518 actually used may bothreduce the cost of each cartridge used for the farmer 518 and encouragethe farmer 518 to use the cartridge 102 because of the knowledge thatthe price the farmer 518 will pay for the cartridge 102 will be limitedby the amount of the product 106 that the farmer 518 actually uses.

The weight of the cartridge 102 upon its return by the farmer 518 may beused for a variety of purposes. For example, in one embodiment of thepresent invention, the cartridge 102 may be weighed upon being returnedby the farmer 518 to determine the actual weight of the cartridge 102 atthat time. Various as-applied data, such as the weight of the cartridge102 when it was previously obtained by the farmer 518, the bulk densityand/or liquid viscosity of the product 106 in the cartridge 102, theapplication rate(s) of the cartridge 102 while it was in use by thefarmer 518, and the speed over ground of the product dispensing assembly302 while it was dispensing the product 106 from the cartridge 102 (alsoreferred to herein as application equipment speed), may be readautomatically from the tag 108 and used to calculate the expected weightof the cartridge 102 at its time of return by the farmer 518. The actualand expected weights of the cartridge 102 may be compared to each otherto identify any disparity between the two. Any such disparity may beused for any of a variety of purposes, such as calibration and/orinvoicing. In other words, in one construction of the present invention,a closed-loop self-calibrating dispensing and invoicing system isachieved.

Another benefit of the method 400 and system 500 is that they enable thecartridge 102 to be refilled and reused without first needing to rinseit before refilling it. This is a significant advantage because, forexample, in the U.S. the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirespesticide-filled cartridges to be triple-rinsed before disposal. Inexisting systems, cartridges are typically disposed of by farmers aftereach use. As a result, each cartridge typically is triple-rinsed aftereach use. Triple-rinsing is a tedious and time-consuming process, as isthe process of disposing of the containers after they've beentriple-rinsed. Unless the containers are recycled, an option which isnot uniformly available in all areas, the triple-rinsed containers endup in a landfill or are incinerated. The method 400 and system 500 ofFIGS. 4 and 5 enable the cartridge 102 to be refilled with the product106 without triple-rinsing the cartridge 102, thereby saving thesignificant time and cost associated with triple-rinsing and cartridgedisposal.

As described above, the farmer 518 may remove some or all of thecartridges from the product dispensing assembly 302 of FIG. 3 and bringsome or all of those cartridges to the retailer for refilling. As aresult, the method 400 and system 500 may be applied to each of aplurality of the farmer 518's cartridges, such as cartridges inreceptacles 304 a-h, FIG. 3 . The ability of the method 400 and system500 to automatically identify the amount of product used within eachcartridge is particularly beneficial when the farmer 518 brings aplurality of cartridges to the retailer for refilling. This is becausemultiple cartridges installed simultaneously in the product dispensingassembly 302 may dispense their respective products at different rates,and thereby deplete their respective product storage units at differentrates, for a variety of reasons, such as differences in rates specifiedby the prescriptive map applied by the system 300. As a result, one ormore of the cartridges in the product dispensing assembly 302 may becomeempty or otherwise require refilling before other cartridges in the sameproduct dispensing assembly. It can be extremely time-consuming andcostly for the farmer 518 to stop the tractor/planter to which theproduct dispensing assembly is attached for the purpose of removing andreplacing only a single cartridge. For example, it has been estimatedthat a farmer may lose $5,000/hour in lost yield and efficiency when a24-row planter is stopped during peak planting season. In contrast,embodiments of the present invention enable the farmer 518 to remove allcartridges from the product dispensing assembly 302 in response todetermining that even one of the cartridges in the product dispensingassembly 302 requires or would benefit from refilling, even if othercartridges in the same product dispensing assembly 302 do not yetrequire refilling or otherwise contain more product than the cartridgerequiring refilling. This facilitates the cartridge exchange process byenabling all the cartridges to be replaced when the planter has to bestopped to refill with seed, eliminating the expensive alternative ofadditional planter stoppages just to replace product cartridges. Thefarmer 518 may then bring all of the cartridges to the retailer in onevisit and be assured that he will pay only for the amounts that wereactually dispensed from each cartridge. Such refilling may use themethod 400 and system 500 to automatically refill each such cartridgeonly with the amount required to fill that cartridge with its respectiveproduct, and to charge the farmer 518 only for the amount of productfilled in each cartridge, even if the amount filled varies fromcartridge to cartridge. The farmer 518 thereby benefits from avoidingthe need to stop the application equipment to refill each individualcartridge when it becomes empty, by instead removing and replacing allcartridges with full cartridges whenever one cartridge needs replacing,thereby reducing the amount of time during which the applicationequipment is stopped, while only paying for the actual amounts ofproduct used from each cartridge (rather than, for example, paying thefull cost of full cartridges).

In any of the examples disclosed herein, the refilled cartridge that thefarmer receives at the end of the method 400 need not be the samecartridge that the farmer 518 brought to be refilled at the beginning ofthe method 400. Instead, for example, the farmer 518 may bring onecartridge to the retailer in operation 418 of the method 400, inresponse to which the method 400 may calculate the amount of the product106 used by the farmer 518 and bill the farmer 518 accordingly, in themanner described above in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5 . The method 400and system 500 may even refill the cartridge returned by the farmer 518in the manner described above in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5 . Theretailer may, however, provide to the farmer a different, full,cartridge, instead of the cartridge that the farmer 518 returned to theretailer. The net effect is the same as if the retailer had refilled thecartridge returned by the farmer 518 and provided the refilled cartridgeto the farmer 518: the farmer 518 receives back a full cartridge andpays only for the difference between the amount of the product that wasin the cartridge returned by the farmer 518 to the retailer and theamount of the product in the full cartridge. It may be beneficial,however, to provide a different full cartridge to the farmer 518, ratherthan to provide the same but refilled cartridge to the farmer 518,because doing so may be faster and more efficient, both for the retailerand the farmer 518. The retailer may, for example, wait until asubsequent time to refill the returned cartridge, such as at a time whenthe retailer refills a plurality of cartridges with the same product ina batch, which may be more efficient for the retailer than refillingindividual cartridges on-demand as they are returned by individualfarmers for refilling.

As described above, the cartridge 102 may dispense the product 106 inquantities that are determined by a prescriptive map which specifies therate at which the product 106 is to be dispensed at different geographiclocations within the field. More generally, the prescriptive map mayindicate, for each of a plurality of locations in the field, and foreach of a plurality of products, the rate at which each such product isto be dispensed at each such location. Any such rate may be equal tozero, thereby indicating that the corresponding product is not to bedispensed at all in the corresponding location in the field.

The rate at which a product is dispensed at any particular location inthe field may vary from the ideal rate specified by the prescriptivemap. As a result, the amount of the product that is dispensed at thatlocation may vary from the desired amount. Such disparities between theprescribed rate and the actual rate may result from any of a variety ofcauses, such as miscalibration of the meter that dispenses the productor irregularities in the topographical features of the field.

Embodiments of the present invention may be used to determine whetherthe prescribed amount of product dispensed by one or more meters in thefield differs from the actual amount of product dispensed by thosemeters, and other embodiments of the present invention may be used todetermine whether the prescribed amount of product dispensed by one ormore meters at one or more locations in the field differs from theactual amount of product dispensed at those locations. Referring to FIG.6 , a flowchart is shown of a method 600 for making such a determinationaccording to one embodiment of the present invention, as discussed inmore detail below. Referring to FIG. 7 , a dataflow diagram is shown ofa system 700 for performing the method 600 of FIG. 6 according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

The system 700 includes a prescriptive map 702. The prescriptive map 702may be stored in digital form and may contain data representing any ofthe information described herein as being part of a prescriptive map. Aschematic illustration of a prescriptive map 1100 is shown in FIG. 11 ,with discrete values shown in key 1102 as described in more detailbelow. In general, the prescriptive maps 702 and/or 1100 may, forexample, contain data representing, for each of a plurality of locationsin a field, and for each of a plurality of products (e.g., producttypes), the rate at which to apply each of the plurality of products (orthe amount of the product to apply) within each of the plurality oflocations.

The system 700 also includes a prescriptive map application module 704.In general, the prescriptive map application module 704 receives theprescriptive map 702 and/or map 1100 as an input, and uses the data inthe prescriptive map application module 704 and/or map 1100 to generateand output product dispensing control signals 706 to the productdispensing assembly 302 of FIG. 3 , which is shown only in block form inFIG. 7 and in more detail in FIG. 3 (FIG. 6 , operation 602). Theproduct dispensing control signals 706 indicate, for each of the meters306 a-h in the product dispensing assembly 302, the rate at which todispense the corresponding product at the current time. For example, theproduct dispensing control signals 706 may include a signal that isprovided to the meter 306 a and which indicates that the meter 306 a isto dispense the product that is contained in the cartridge in receptacle304 a at a specified rate. In response, the meter 306 a attempts todispense its product at the rate specified by the received productdispensing control signal. As described above, however, the actual rateat which the meter 306 a dispenses the corresponding product may or maynot be the same as the rate specified by the control signal received bythe meter 306 a.

The prescriptive map application module 704 may generate the productdispensing control signals 706 in any of a variety of ways. For example,the prescriptive map application module 704 may identify the currentlocation of the product dispensing assembly 302, and generate theproduct dispensing control signals 706 based on the prescriptive map 702and the current location of the product dispensing assembly 302. Forexample, the prescriptive map application module 704 may identify theproduct rates in the prescriptive map 702 that correspond to the currentlocation of the product dispensing assembly 302, and generate theproduct dispensing control signals 706 to indicate that the identifiedproduct rates are to be output by the meters 306 a-h in the productdispensing assembly 708. The prescriptive map application module 704may, for each identified product rate in the prescriptive map, identifythe type of product associated with that product rate, identify themeter in the product dispensing assembly 302 that is coupled to acartridge containing that type of product, and direct the correspondingproduct dispensing control signal to the identified meter.

The prescriptive map application module 704 may identify the currentlocation of the product dispensing assembly in any of a variety of ways.For example, the prescriptive map application module 704 may receivegeographic coordinate data 720 specifying a current location (e.g.,geographic coordinates, also referred to herein as “geographiclocations” or “geolocations”) of the product dispensing assembly 302.The geographic coordinate data 720 may be generated automatically using,for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module that is locatedin, on, or near the product dispensing assembly 302 and whichautomatically identifies the current location of the product dispensingassembly 302 and which generates the geographic coordinate data 720 torepresent the current location of the product dispensing assembly 302.As described above, the GPS data can be augmented with Real TimeKinematic (RTK) positioning techniques to achieve sub-centimeter-levellocation accuracy.

The system 700 also includes an as-applied map module 710, which detectsthe actual amounts of product dispensed by the meters 306 a-h in theproduct dispensing assembly 302, and which generates an as-applied map712 representing those amounts (FIG. 6 , operation 604). A schematicillustration of an as-applied map 1000 is provided in FIG. 10 , withvalues shown in key 1002. The as-applied map module 710 may, forexample, use any of the techniques disclosed above in connection withthe method 200 and system 300 of FIGS. 2 and 3 , respectively, togenerate the as-applied map. For example, each of the meters 306 a-h maycontain a processor and memory that record the amount of product beingdispensed at each of a plurality of points in time. Such amounts may bestored in the respective tag for each cartridge and/or transmitted toand stored in the measurement data 334. The measurement data 334 mayinclude the as-applied map 712 or map 1000, and/or be used to generatethe as-applied map 712 or map 1000. In general, the as-applied map 712and/or map 1000 contains data, for each of a plurality of locations inthe field and for each of a plurality of products, the amount of each ofthe products that was actually dispensed (as represented by themeasurements taken by the meters 306 a-h) at each of the plurality oflocations in the field. The structure of the as-applied map 712 may,therefore, be the same as or similar to the structure of theprescriptive map 702, and the structure of as-applied map 1000 may bethe same or similar to that of prescriptive map 1100. For each fieldlocation and product, the prescriptive map 702 indicates the amount ofproduct that is intended to be dispensed at the field location, such asa linear location along a furrow or at a latitude-longitude location,whereas the as-applied map 712 indicates the amount of product thatactually was dispensed at that same field location. Similarly, eachregion shown in FIG. 11 for prescriptive map 1100 designates thegeolocation and prescribed amount (as listed in key 1102, such as one of28.0 units through 34.0 units of a product for that geolocation),whereas the individual “bars” or rounded rectangles of as-applied map1000, FIG. 10 , correspond to ranges of measured as-applied amounts,having values as designated in key 1002, along neighboring furrows in afield. The present invention is highly compatible with precisionagriculture techniques including synchronized seed and product deliverysuch as described in one or more of U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,065 and U.S.Patent Application Pub. No. 2017/0000022 by Larry M. Conrad, and U.S.Pat. No. 6,938,564, U.S. Patent Application Pub. Nos. 2018/0014456 and2018/0092296 by Conrad et al., for example. Although rows of roundedrectangles of as-applied values are shown in FIG. 10 for ease ofillustration, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill afterreviewing the present application that discrete as-applied amounts canbe measured, recorded, and/or depicted in as-applied map 712 and/or map1000, and/or in tabular format, in whatever resolution is desired,subject only to the accuracy of product delivery amount measurements bygeolocation for particular delivery equipment.

The system 700 also includes a cross-checking module 714. Thecross-checking module 714 receives the prescriptive map 702 (such asprescriptive data represented by prescriptive map 1100, FIG. 11 ) andthe as-applied map 712 (such as as-applied data represented byas-applied map 1000, FIG. 10 ) as inputs and compares the two maps 702and 712 to generate a difference map 716 (FIG. 6 , operation 606). Thecross-checking module 714 may, for example, for each location-productpair in the prescriptive map 702 and the as-applied map 712, subtractthe product rate (or amount) in the as-applied map 712 from thecorresponding product rate (or amount) in the prescriptive map 702 andstore the resulting difference in association with the location-productpair in the difference map 716. As a result, the difference map 716 mayinclude data indicating, for each location-product pair, the difference(which may be zero) between the rate at which the product actually wasapplied (or the amount of product that was applied) in the field and therate at which the product was intended to be applied (or the amount ofproduct that was intended to be applied) at that location. It will beappreciated that as-applied data represented by as-applied map 1000,FIG. 10 , can be more precise than the ranges of values listed in key1002 and by the groupings illustrated within map 1000. It will also beappreciated that the listed ranges can be configured by a user asdesired, such as by selecting more ranges or fewer ranges to depict inas-applied map 1000, or by selecting different numerical increments foreach range, which overlap slightly in some constructions and, in otherconstructions, do not overlap. It will be further appreciated that adifferences map created by overlaying (or otherwise combining) anas-applied map such as map 1000 with a prescriptive map such as map 1100can show non-zero differences with different colors or othervisually-perceptible and/or machine-perceptible indicia.

Although the elements of the system 700 of FIG. 7 are shown asindependent elements, any of these elements may be combined with eachother or divided into additional elements. Furthermore, any of theelements of FIG. 7 may be integrated into the system 300 of FIG. 3 in avariety of ways. For example, the prescriptive map application module704 may be part of the product dispensing assembly 302. As anotherexample, the as-applied map module 710 may be part of the meters 306a-h. In some constructions, portions of the difference map 716 areutilized to generate warnings or error messages to a farmer or otheruser via I/O Device 336, FIG. 3 . For example, differences greater thana pre-selected percentage, such as errors greater than two percent orthree percent of prescribed product application, can trigger a warninglight or error message to be displayed to the farmer.

Although the description above may refer to “rates” and “amounts”separately, it should be understood that any rate may alternatively berepresented as an amount or converted to an amount, and vice versa.Therefore, any reference herein to a rate should be understood asapplying equally to an amount, and that any reference herein to anamount should be understood as applying equally to a rate.

Although the method 600 and system 700 of FIGS. 6 and 7 are describedabove as comparing data associated with geospatial coordinates, this ismerely an example and not a requirement of the present invention. Moregenerally, the method 600 and system 700 may monitor the actual amountsof product dispensed by particular meters in the field and compare thoseactual amounts to the amounts of product prescribed by the as-appliedmap 712. The method 600 and system 700 may compare such amounts to eachother, with or without reference to geospatial coordinates, to identifyany differences between the prescribed amounts of products to be appliedto the field and the actual amounts of product applied to the field bythe meters. For example, the method 600 and system 700 may, for eachmeter, compare the total amount of product actually applied by thatmeter in the field to the total amount of product prescribed by theprescriptive map 702 to be applied by that meter in the field togenerate the difference map 716, which may contain the resultingdifferences for each of the meters, without any associated geospatialcoordinates.

The method 600 and system 700 of FIGS. 6 and 7 have a variety ofadvantages. For example, if any of the products dispensed by the productdispensing assembly 302 are believed to have delivered less thansatisfactory performance in a particular location, the difference map716 may be used to determine whether the actual amount of the productdispensed in that location differed from the prescribed amount. Thisinformation can be extremely useful in diagnosing the cause of theperformance problem. For example, if it is determined, based on thedifference map 716, that there was no (or negligible) difference betweenthe prescribed and applied amount of the product, then such a differencemay be ruled out as a cause of the problem.

As described above, the cartridge 102 may change hands over time. Suchchanges may include, for example, any one or more of the following inany combination: changes in ownership, changes in rights of control(e.g. as specified by licenses and/or leases), changes in custody, andother changes in possession. Any such change in possession is referredto as a “touch” for ease of explanation herein, and can be trackedthrough entity possession data according to one aspect of the presentinvention. Chain-of-custody levels of traceability can be achieved. Forexample, as described above in connection with the refilling of thecartridge 102 in the method 400 of FIG. 4 and the system 500 of FIG. 5 ,a farmer may be in possession of the cartridge 102 at one time; thefarmer may then give possession of the cartridge 102 to a retailer at alater time for refilling; and the retailer may then provide thecartridge 102 back to the farmer at yet a later time after the cartridge102 has been refilled. In this example, possession of the cartridgeschanges from the farmer to the retailer and then again to the farmerover time. Each of these changes in possession is an example of a“touch,” as that term is used herein, which can be stored as entitypossession data.

Embodiments of the present invention may be used to track any suchtouches over time, and to store information describing such touches,such as entity possession data, in the cartridge tag 108 itself and/orin the measurement data 334, FIG. 3 , maintained by the server 332. Insome constructions, the cartridge memory 110, FIG. 1 , includes touchhistory data 126, also referred to herein as entity possession data. Thetouch history data 126 may include, for each of one or more touches,data representing that touch, such as any one or more of the following:

-   -   the time of the touch;    -   the location of the touch;    -   the type of touch (e.g., change in ownership, rights, or other        types of possession);    -   the entity (if applicable), e.g., person or organization, from        whom ownership, rights, or possession in the cartridge 102 was        transferred;    -   the entity (if applicable), e.g., person or organization, to        whom ownership, rights, or possession in the cartridge 102 was        transferred; and    -   the purpose of the touch (e.g., purchase of the cartridge 102,        refilling the cartridge 102, returning the cartridge 102).

Any data representing an entity in the touch history data 126 mayrepresent that entity in any of a variety of ways, such as by real name,username, unique identifier, or any combination thereof.

Because the touch history data 126 may include such data for a pluralityof touches, the touch history data 126 may include data representing ahistory of touches of the cartridge 102, such as a history of changes inownership, control, and/or possession of the cartridge 102 over time.

Examples of times at which the touch history data 126 may be updatedinclude:

-   -   acquiring of the cartridge 102 by the farmer in operation 206 of        the method 200 of FIG. 2 or in operation 406 of the method 400        of FIG. 4 ;    -   acquiring of the cartridge 102 by the retailer in operation 418        of the method 400 of FIG. 4 ; and    -   returning of the cartridge 102 by the retailer to the farmer in        operation 428 of the method 400 of FIG. 4 .

The ability to perform touch tracking enables embodiments of the presentinvention to perform a variety of other functions. For example,embodiments of the present invention may use the touch history data 126to control and/or prohibit “sideways” transfer of the cartridge 102 in adistribution channel. An example of a sideways transfer, as that term isused herein, is the transfer of possession, ownership, or control in thecartridge 102 from one retailer to another retailer, rather than from aretailer to a farmer (which would constitute a “downward” transferrather than a sideways transfer). Another example of a sideways transferis the transfer of possession, ownership, or control in the cartridge102 from one farmer to another farmer or to a dealer. One aspect of thepresent invention is to designate, for each cartridge, a specific userfor specific product placed into that cartridge. In some constructions,the authorized specific user will be both a farmer responsible for oneor more fields, and an approved operator of dispensing equipment actingon behalf of the responsible farmer as an approved current user. Onetechnique for designating cartridges to be used by or on behalf of aspecific user for specific product is to generate and/or storeauthorization codes for such approved users in a RFID tag attached toeach cartridge.

Although contracts may be used to prohibit sideways transfers to acertain extent, contracts have limitations. To address this problem,embodiments of the present invention may use technological means tocontrol or prohibit sideways transfers of the cartridge 102. Forexample, as described above, the cartridge 102 may include a cartridgeID 122, which may be validated to determine whether the cartridge ID 122is permitted to dispense its product 106. In addition, the cartridge tag108 may contain a license ID (not shown), representing or otherwisecorresponding to a license that authorizes the farmer to use thecartridge 102 in connection with a particular product dispensingassembly, such as the product dispensing assembly 302 of FIG. 3 . Inother words, a particular license may be associated with both theproduct dispensing assembly 302 and the cartridge 102, thereby linkingthe use of the cartridge 102 to the product dispensing assembly 302. Theproduct dispensing assembly 302 may store the same license ID as thecartridge 102 or otherwise be configured to be associated that thatlicense ID. Before the product dispensing assembly 302 dispenses theproduct 106 from the cartridge 102, the product dispensing assembly 302may determine whether the cartridge tag 108 contains the license ID thatis associated with the product dispensing assembly 302, and then permitthe cartridge 102 to dispense the product 106 only if the cartridge 102contains that license ID (and prohibit the cartridge 102 from dispensingthe product 106 otherwise).

As a result, if someone attempts to dispense the product 106 from aproduct dispensing assembly that does not contain (or otherwise isconfigured to recognize) the corresponding license ID on the cartridge102, then that product dispensing assembly will not be able to dispensethe product 106 from the cartridge. This feature may be used to prohibitsideways transfers from being effective, because even if one partytransfer the cartridge 102 sideways to another party, the receivingparty will not be able to dispense the product 106 from the cartridge102 because the receiving party's product dispensing assembly will notauthorize the cartridge 102 for use.

Another feature that is enabled by the cartridge ID 122 is the abilityto prohibit the cartridge 102 from being used after the quantity of theproduct 106 in the cartridge 102 diminishes to less than somepredetermined threshold. More specifically, as described above, afterthe cartridge 102 has been validated (such as in operation 212 of themethod 200 of FIG. 2 ), the cartridge 102 may be used to dispense theproduct 106 in any of the ways disclosed herein. As the product 106 isdispensed from the cartridge 102, the changing quantity of the product106 in the cartridge 102 may be tracked and updated on the cartridge tag108, as disclosed above in connection with FIGS. 1-3 . The system 300may repeatedly determine (by reference to the product quantity data 118)whether the amount of the product 106 in the cartridge 102 has becomeequal to or less than some predetermined threshold (the value of whichmay itself be stored in the tag 108). The predetermined threshold may beany value, and in particular may be equal to or close to zero. If thesystem 300 determines that the quantity of the product 106 in thecartridge 102 has become equal to or less than the predeterminedthreshold, then the system 300 may disable the cartridge 102 fromfurther use, such as by storing data (not shown) in the cartridge memory110 indicating that the cartridge 102 has been disabled.

Any attempt to use or validate the cartridge 102 while the cartridge 102in this disabled state will fail. The validation process (operation 212in FIG. 2 ) may, for example, determine whether the cartridge 102 is ina disabled state and may not validate the cartridge 102 in response todetermining that the cartridge 102 is in a disabled state.

If the cartridge 102 is in a disabled state, the cartridge 102 may beenabled for further use only by an authorized refiller of the cartridge102, such as in operation 202 in FIG. 2 , operation 402 in FIG. 4 , oroperation 424 in FIG. 4 . For example, in some embodiments of thepresent invention, once the tag 108 has been put in a disabled state, itis no longer possible to put the tag 108 into an enabled state. In otherwords, disabling the tag 108 may be an irreversible operation. In suchembodiments, to re-enable the cartridge 102 it is necessary to install anew tag, which is in an enabled state, on the cartridge 102. As aresult, an attempt to validate the cartridge 102 (such as in operation212 in FIG. 2 ) will succeed, because the cartridge 102's new tag willbe determined to be in an enabled state, and the cartridge 102 will beusable for dispensing product. In other embodiments, it may be possibleto change the state of the tag 108 from disabled to enabled, but onlycertain parties, such as authorized resellers, may be capable ofchanging the state of the tag 108 from disabled to enabled. An advantageof disabling the cartridge 102 for use after the quantity of the producthas fallen below the predetermined threshold is that doing so preventsthe cartridge 102 from being used to apply an unauthorized product thathas been inserted into the cartridge 102 using an unauthorized refillingprocess.

Another problem with existing agricultural product application systemsis that application accuracy may vary over time for a variety ofreasons. For example, granular products are packaged and labeled forapplication by weight, but the devices that meter such products do sobased on product volume rather than weight. Consequently, when the bulkdensity of a product changes, the metered weight of the product changesfor a given volume of the product which moves through the meter.Different manufacturing batches or lot numbers of the same granularproduct may have different bulk densities. In order to achieve optimumapplication accuracy, granular application meters should be recalibratedeach time a product with a different bulk density is dispensed throughthe meter. Performing such recalibration, however, is tedious andtime-consuming. A similar problem occurs when the liquid viscosity of aliquid product changes, creating a similar need to recalibrate.

Embodiments of the present invention may use product bulk densityinformation in the cartridge tag 108 to automatically recalibrate ameter when a cartridge is coupled to the meter. Such embodiments may,for example, automatically select a specific calibration algorithm touse to recalibrate the meter, and then automatically recalibrate themeter using the selected algorithm. Such embodiments may select aspecific calibration algorithm from among a plurality of calibrationalgorithms, each of which corresponds to a particular bulk density. Anyreference herein to bulk density of a granular product should beunderstood to be equally applicable to the liquid viscosity of a liquidproduct.

More specifically, referring now to FIG. 8 , a dataflow diagram is shownof a method 800 for automatically recalibrating a meter (such as any ofthe meters 306 a-h) according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. Although the method 800 of FIG. 8 is described herein asbeing applied to the meter 306 a, the method 800 may be applied to anymeter(s).

The meter recalibration method 800 includes the cartridge 102 beingfilled with the product 106 (FIG. 8 , operation 802), the cartridge tag108 being updated with product information (FIG. 8 , operation 804), thefarmer acquiring the cartridge 102 (FIG. 8 , operation 806), the farmerattaching the cartridge 102 to the product dispensing assembly 302 (FIG.8 , operation 808), and the tag reader 310 reading some or all of thedata from the tag 108 in the cartridge 102 (FIG. 8 , operation 810).Operations 802-810 in the method 800 of FIG. 8 may be performed in thesame or similar way as operations 802-810 in the method 200 of FIG. 2 ,and therefore are not described in detail herein.

Assume for purposes of example that the cartridge 102 is inserted intothe receptacle 304 a and thereby coupled to the meter 306 a. The method800 automatically adjusts the application rate and/or calibration of themeter 306 a based on the type and/or bulk density of the product 106that is in the cartridge 102 (FIG. 8 , operation 812). Any referenceherein to adjusting the application rate and calibration of the meter306 a should be understood to include only adjusting the applicationrate, only adjusting the calibration, or adjusting both the applicationrate and the calibration of the meter 306 a.

The product tag 108 may, for example, contain product bulk density data128 representing the bulk density of the product 106 that is in thecartridge 102. The bulk density data 128 may, for example, be written tothe tag 108 at or around the time at which the cartridge 102 is filledwith the product 106, such as in the filling operation 802 of the method800 of FIG. 8 , or the refilling operation 424 of the method 400 of FIG.4 . The method 800 may read the bulk density data 128 from the tag 108and automatically adjust the application rate and calibration of themeter 306 a based, in whole or in part, on the bulk density representedby the bulk density data 128. Similarly, the method 800 may read theproduct type data 120 from the tag 108 and automatically adjust theapplication rate and calibration of the meter 306 a based, in whole orin part, on the product type represented by the product type data 120.

The method 800 may, for example, have access to a plurality ofalgorithms, each of which corresponds to a particular product type, bulkdensity, or combination of product type and bulk density. The method 800may:

-   -   identify the product type of the product 106, select the        algorithm corresponding to that product type, and automatically        adjust the application rate and calibration of the meter 306 a        using the selected algorithm;    -   identify the bulk density of the product, select the algorithm        corresponding to that bulk density, and automatically adjust the        application rate and calibration of the meter 306 using the        selected algorithm; or    -   identify the product type and bulk density of the product 106,        select the algorithm corresponding to that product type-bulk        density combination, and automatically adjust the application        rate and calibration of the meter using the selected algorithm.

Embodiments of the present invention may be used to aggregate a varietyof data from the cartridge 102 and from a plurality of cartridges,including both the cartridge 102 and other cartridges (not shown). Forexample, referring to FIG. 9 , a flowchart is shown of a method 900 foraggregating information from a plurality of cartridges, including thecartridge 102, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The cartridge data aggregation method 900 includes the cartridge 102being filled with the product 106 (FIG. 9 , operation 902), thecartridge tag 108 being updated with product information (FIG. 9 ,operation 904), the farmer acquiring the cartridge 102 (FIG. 9 ,operation 906), and the farmer attaching the cartridge 102 to theproduct dispensing assembly 302, FIG. 3 (FIG. 9 , operation 908).Operations 902-908 in the method 900 of FIG. 9 may be performed in thesame or similar way as operations 202-208 in the method 200 of FIG. 2 ,and therefore are not described in detail herein.

As the cartridge 102 dispenses its product (via corresponding meter 306a) (FIG. 9 , operation 910), the system 300 uses product measurementmodule 322 to measure the amount of product 106 being dispensed from thecartridge 102, as described above in connection with FIGS. 2-3 .Furthermore, the method 900 updates the product quantity data 118 on thetag 108 to reflect the amount of product 106 dispensed and/or theremaining amount of product 106 in the product storage unit 104 (FIG. 9, operation 912), as described above in connection with FIGS. 2-3 .

The method 900 updates various as-applied data 124 in the tag 108 inaddition to the product quantity data 118 as the product 106 is beingdispensed from the cartridge 102 (FIG. 9 , operation 914), as describedabove in connection with FIGS. 2-3 . The method 900 may transmit datafrom the tag 108 to the server 332 (FIG. 9 , operation 916) and/or to atleast one I/O Device 336, as described above in connection with FIGS.2-3 .

The method 900 may also be applied to one or more cartridges in additionto the cartridge 102. For example, operations 902-916 may be applied tosuch cartridges, and thereby to monitor, store, and transmit data (suchas product quantity data and as-applied data) from such cartridges tothe server 332 in the manner described above in connection with thecartridge 102. The server 332 may, therefore, receive any such data notonly from the cartridge 102 but from one or more additional cartridgesover time. The server 332 may store any such data in the measurementdata 334. As a result, the measurement data 334 may include datareceived from a plurality of cartridges over time.

The server 332 may aggregate the data received from the plurality ofcontainers in any of a variety of ways (FIG. 9 , operation 918). Forexample, the server 332 may aggregate some or all data received from aparticular cartridge (such as the cartridge 102), such as by creating anas-applied map based on data received from the particular cartridge,generating statistics (such as sums, averages, and standard deviations)based on data received from the particular cartridge, and storing thecartridge ID of the particular cartridge (or other unique identifier) inassociation with the data received from the particular cartridge inorder to identify all such data as having been received from the samecartridge.

As another example, the server 332 may aggregate data from two or morecartridges. For example, the server 332 may generate statistics (such assums, averages, and standard deviations) based on data received from aplurality of cartridges. As another example, the server 332 may generatea combined as-applied map for a specific field, incorporating as-applieddata from a plurality of cartridges, such as all cartridges utilized bya particular agricultural dispensing apparatus at the specific field.

Embodiments of the present invention may facilitate such dataaggregation in any of a variety of ways. For example, the tags on theplurality of cartridges may store their data in the same, or otherwiseconsistent, data format. For example, the same types of data (e.g.,product type and product quantity) may be stored in the same format(e.g., using the same field names) on all of the tags. As a result, whenthe server 332 receives data from the plurality of tags, the server 332may easily aggregate such data, because the server 332 may easilyidentify data of the same type (e.g., product quantity) from all of thecartridges. This enables the method 900 to aggregate data acrosscartridges, product dispensing assemblies, and farmers, withoutrequiring the farms to engage in manual (and often error-prone andinconsistent) data entry and reporting. This is a significant advantageover existing systems, in which cartridge data are stored ininconsistent formats and must be entered and reported manually byfarmers, often resulting in errors, delays, and failure to report data.

It is to be understood that although the invention has been describedabove and illustrated in the drawings in terms of particularembodiments, the foregoing embodiments are provided as illustrativeonly, and do not limit or define the scope of the invention. Variousother embodiments, including but not limited to the following, are alsowithin the scope of the claims. For example, elements and componentsdescribed herein may be further divided into additional components orjoined together to form fewer components for performing the samefunctions. Although specific features of the present invention are shownin some drawings and not in others, this is for convenience only, aseach feature may be combined with any or all of the other features inaccordance with the invention. Substitutions of elements from onedescribed embodiment to another are also fully intended andcontemplated. It is also to be understood that the drawings are notnecessarily drawn to scale, but that they are merely conceptual innature.

Any of the functions disclosed herein may be implemented using means forperforming those functions. Such means include, but are not limited to,any of the components disclosed herein, such as the computer-relatedcomponents described below.

The techniques described above may be implemented, for example, inhardware, one or more computer programs tangibly stored on one or morecomputer-readable media, firmware, or any combination thereof. Thetechniques described above may be implemented in one or more computerprograms executing on (or executable by) a programmable computerincluding any combination of any number of the following: a processor, astorage medium readable and/or writable by the processor (including, forexample, volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), aninput device, and an output device. Program code may be applied to inputentered using the input device to perform the functions described and togenerate output using the output device.

Embodiments of the present invention include features which are onlypossible and/or feasible to implement with the use of one or morecomputers, computer processors, and/or other elements of a computersystem. Such features are either impossible or impractical to implementmentally and/or manually. For example, embodiments of the presentinvention automatically track the amount of product dispensed by acartridge onto a field, automatically update data in an electronicmemory representing such amounts of dispensed product, and automaticallyand wirelessly transmit such data to a server over a digital electronicnetwork for storage and processing. Such features can only be performedby computers and other machines and cannot be performed manually ormentally by humans.

Any claims herein which affirmatively require a computer, a processor, amemory, or similar computer-related elements, are intended to requiresuch elements, and should not be interpreted as if such elements are notpresent in or required by such claims. Such claims are not intended, andshould not be interpreted, to cover methods and/or systems which lackthe recited computer-related elements. For example, any method claimherein which recites that the claimed method is performed by a computer,a processor, a memory, and/or similar computer-related element, isintended to, and should only be interpreted to, encompass methods whichare performed by the recited computer-related element(s). Such a methodclaim should not be interpreted, for example, to encompass a method thatis performed mentally or by hand (e.g., using pencil and paper).Similarly, any product claim herein which recites that the claimedproduct includes a computer, a processor, a memory, and/or similarcomputer-related element, is intended to, and should only be interpretedto, encompass products which include the recited computer-relatedelement(s). Such a product claim should not be interpreted, for example,to encompass a product that does not include the recitedcomputer-related element(s).

Each computer program within the scope of the claims below may beimplemented in any programming language, such as assembly language,machine language, a high-level procedural programming language, or anobject-oriented programming language. The programming language may, forexample, be a compiled or interpreted programming language.

Each such computer program may be implemented in a computer programproduct tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device forexecution by a computer processor. Method steps of the invention may beperformed by one or more computer processors executing a programtangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium to perform functions ofthe invention by operating on input and generating output. Suitableprocessors include, by way of example, both general and special purposemicroprocessors. Generally, the processor receives (reads) instructionsand data from a memory (such as a read-only memory and/or a randomaccess memory) and writes (stores) instructions and data to the memory.Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer programinstructions and data include, for example, all forms of non-volatilememory, such as semiconductor memory devices, including EPROM, EEPROM,and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks andremovable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROMs. Any of theforegoing may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, specially-designedASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) or FPGAs(Field-Programmable Gate Arrays). A computer can generally also receive(read) programs and data from, and write (store) programs and data to, anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as an internal disk(not shown) or a removable disk. These elements will also be found in aconventional desktop or workstation computer as well as other computerssuitable for executing computer programs implementing the methodsdescribed herein, which may be used in conjunction with any digitalprint engine or marking engine, display monitor, or other raster outputdevice capable of producing color or gray scale pixels on paper, film,display screen, or other output medium.

Any data disclosed herein may be implemented, for example, in one ormore data structures tangibly stored on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. Embodiments of the invention may store suchdata in such data structure(s) and read such data from such datastructure(s).

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by at least one computerprocessor executing computer program instructions stored on at least onenon-transitory computer-readable medium to track use of a product, themethod comprising: (A) entering specific user identity data, containeridentity data and product identity data into memory associated with acontainer; (B) when the container is in proximity to dispensingequipment, (i) reading the container identity data, the specific useridentity data and the product identity data from the memory associatedwith the container and (ii) reading current user identity data inproximity to the dispensing equipment; and (C) for each of a pluralityof dispensings of the product from the container, updating the memoryassociated with the container based on the dispensing.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: detecting a change in use of the productstored in the container; and generating product use data representingthe change in use of the product stored in the container.
 3. The methodof claim 2, further comprising updating product use data in the memoryassociated with the container to reflect the change in the use of theproduct stored in the container.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising processing the container after one of the plurality ofdispensings by reading updated product use data from the memoryassociated with the container and adding an amount of product to thecontainer based on the updated product use data.
 5. The method of claim2, wherein the product use data includes at least one of productquantity, rate of dispensing, time of dispensing, linear length oftreatment by dispensing, location of dispensing, and area of treatmentby dispensing.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory associatedwith the container is part of an RFID tag.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the container comprises the RFID tag.
 8. The method of claim 6,wherein the container is coupled to the RFID tag.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein reading the current user identity data in proximity to thedispensing equipment comprises reading the current user identity datafrom a user identification source associated with the dispensingequipment.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the current user identitydata includes an authorization code to enable dispensing by thedispensing equipment.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:tracking each of a plurality of entities that takes possession of thecontainer; and updating the memory associated with the container withentity possession data representing each of the plurality of entitiesthat takes possession of the container.
 12. The method of claim 4,further comprising: entering vendor ID data into the memory associatedwith the container prior to dispensing the product from the container;reading the vendor ID data during processing of the container afterdispensing the product from the container; and prohibiting addingproduct to the container until the vendor ID data is determined to beauthorized for that product in that container.
 13. The method of claim1, further comprising, before (C): (D) determining whether the containeris authorized for use by a current user with the product based on thecontainer identity data, the specific user identity data, the currentuser identity data, and the product identity data; (E) if the containeris determined not to be authorized for use with the product by thecurrent user, then prohibiting the container from dispensing theproduct; and (F) if the container is determined to be authorized for usewith the product by the current user, then permitting the container todispense the product.
 14. A system comprising at least onenon-transitory computer-readable medium having computer programinstructions stored thereon, the computer program instructions beingexecutable by at least one computer processor to perform a method fortracking use of a product, the method comprising: (A) entering specificuser identity data, container identity data and product identity datainto memory associated with a container; (B) when the container is inproximity to dispensing equipment, (i) reading the container identitydata, the specific user identity data and the product identity data fromthe memory associated with the container and (ii) reading current useridentity data in proximity to the dispensing equipment; and (C) for eachof a plurality of dispensings of the product from the container,updating the memory associated with the container based on thedispensing.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the method furthercomprises: detecting a change in use of the product stored in thecontainer; and generating product use data representing the change inuse of the product stored in the container.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein the method further comprises updating product use data in thememory associated with the container to reflect the change in the use ofthe product stored in the container.
 17. The system of claim 16, whereinthe method further comprises processing the container after one of theplurality of dispensings by reading updated product use data from thememory associated with the container and adding an amount of product tothe container based on the updated product use data.
 18. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the product use data includes at least one of productquantity, rate of dispensing, time of dispensing, linear length oftreatment by dispensing, location of dispensing, and area of treatmentby dispensing.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory associatedwith the container is part of an RFID tag.
 20. The system of claim 19,wherein the container comprises the RFID tag.
 21. The system of claim19, wherein the container is coupled to the RFID tag.
 22. The system ofclaim 14, wherein reading the current user identity data in proximity tothe dispensing equipment comprises reading the current user identitydata from a user identification source associated with the dispensingequipment.
 23. The system of claim 14, wherein the current user identitydata includes an authorization code to enable dispensing by thedispensing equipment.
 24. The system of claim 14, wherein the methodfurther comprises: tracking each of a plurality of entities that takespossession of the container; and updating the memory associated with thecontainer with entity possession data representing each of the pluralityof entities that takes possession of the container.
 25. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the method further comprises: entering vendor ID datainto the memory associated with the container prior to dispensing theproduct from the container; reading the vendor ID data during processingof the container after dispensing the product from the container; andprohibiting adding product to the container until the vendor ID data isdetermined to be authorized for that product in that container.
 26. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises, before (C):(D) determining whether the container is authorized for use by a currentuser with the product based on the container identity data, the specificuser identity data, the current user identity data, and the productidentity data; (E) if the container is determined not to be authorizedfor use with the product by the current user, then prohibiting thecontainer from dispensing the product; and (F) if the container isdetermined to be authorized for use with the product by the currentuser, then permitting the container to dispense the product.